Neasa Hourigan (Dublin Central, Green Party)
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504. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills her plans to publish disaggregated data on the basis of gender, disability, socio-economic background and ethnicity in secondary schools to monitor participation and outcomes of Traveller and Roma students; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27201/20]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The P-POD database provides information on enrolment at post-primary school level. Other purposes of P-POD include the basis for the allocation of teachers and capitation grants.

My Department received approval from the Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) to introduce a question on ethnic and cultural background (based on the question in the national census), in data returns made by individual schools via the P-POD database.

The DPC approved the collection of this information on the annual statistical returns made by individual post primary schools on the basis of voluntary self-identification. The question is not compulsory, and parents/students are free to decline giving this information.

My Department engages with Traveller and Roma representative groups in the context of the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy Education sub-committee. As part of this work, my Department is currently reviewing the data available and will engage with Traveller and Roma representative bodies in relation to this.