Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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273. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 90 of 4 April 2019, the progress regarding the application for DEIS status by a school (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [45321/19]

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy is aware, my Department is currently undertaking data analysis in the context of resource allocation to match identified need, including the examination of variables known to be strong predictors of educational disadvantage. All schools at both Primary and Post Primary are being assessed using the new identification model.

This analysis is being carried out by members of the DEIS Technical Group which contains representatives of the Department’s Statistics and Social Inclusion Units, the Inspectorate and the Educational Research Centre. Work is ongoing by this group and significant progress has been made. I am confident that the culmination of this analysis will facilitate the ultimate aim of matching resources to identified need and will allow us to target extra resources at those schools most in need. Until this analysis is complete, it is not intended to extend the DEIS programme to any further schools.