Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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902. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs if the percentage of pupils in non-DEIS schools that have come from DEIS feeder schools will be considered when changes or future funding allocations to the schools completion programme are being made; if issues such as rent supplement and housing assistance dependency in private housing estates will be taken into account; the location of direct provision centres; the levels of homelessness within the non-DEIS schools catchment areas; and the non-DEIS schools enrolment numbers. [12905/18]

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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The School Completion Programme was established in 2002 by the Department of Education and Skills (DES) as part of the Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) programme building on the earlier Early School Leaver Initiative (ESLI). The programme was expanded in 2005/2006 when additional schools were included in the DEIS programme. The majority of schools in the SCP programme are included as they were identified for extra supports under the DEIS programme. The aim of SCP is to increase the numbers of young people staying in primary and second level schools and in doing so improve the numbers of pupils who successfully complete the Senior Cycle, or equivalent.  

The new DEIS Plan published in 2017 aims to achieve a more robust assessment framework for identifying schools and for allocating resources. It also seeks to support best practice in schools through inter agency collaboration. The implementation of these and other key goals in the plan will lead to an improved learning experience and outcomes for pupils attending DEIS schools. 

Under this Plan a number of new schools are now included and will be joining the SCP from September 2018. In this regard it is anticipated that the provision of SCP supports in additional schools will require further resources to be made available to the SCP from the 2018/19 school year onwards. 

My colleague the Minister for Education and Skills  and he is responsible for the DEIS programme and the School Completion Programme which is just one of a large number of supports which are provided under DEIS. Only a small number of schools outside of DEIS are in receipt of supports under the SCP. Tracking students and their movement between DEIS schools (which are in receipt of SCP supports) and non -DEIS schools (which by and large do not have SCP supports) is a matter for the Department of Education and Skills.