Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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423. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if consideration will be given to the re-instatement of a band 3 in DEIS for schools that are not successful for entry to band 1 or band 2 but have a higher proportion of students with additional educational needs, from international communities and living in State-subsidised private rented accommodation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [51331/22]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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DEIS – Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools - is my Department's main strategy to tackle educational disadvantage at school level. The DEIS programme focuses on targeting additional supports to those schools with the highest concentrations of educational disadvantage. Last March I was glad to announce a major expansion of this programme. This means that, for the first time since 2017, the programme has been significantly expanded to an additional 322 schools. Those schools are now gaining access to targeted supports to address educational disadvantage. This will add an additional €32million to my Department’s expenditure on the DEIS programme from 2023, bringing the 2023 allocation to in the region of €180million.

Schools with the highest levels of concentrated educational disadvantage were identified for inclusion in the programme through the refined DEIS identification model which is an objective, statistics-based model. Schools were not required to apply for inclusion in the DEIS programme and the model has been applied fairly and equally to all schools. The model uses information from the school’s individual enrolment database and 2016 national census data as represented by the Pobal HP Deprivation index. It also takes into consideration the significant educational disadvantage experienced by Traveller and Roma learners and by students residing in direct provision or emergency homeless accommodation. A detailed paper on the refined DEIS identification model is available on gov.ie.

Schools that were not satisfied with the outcome following the application of the DEIS identification model to their school enrolment data were provided with the opportunity to have that outcome reviewed. The DEIS appeals process was applied fairly across all appellants and the results are final. My Department will continue to support schools to deliver high quality, inclusive teaching and learning to students and young learners.

It is important to note that the extension of the DEIS programme to new schools is just one phase of work in my vision for an inclusive education system which supports all learners to achieve their potential. While the DEIS programme supports those schools with the highest levels of concentrated educational disadvantage, I recognise that there are students at risk of educational disadvantage in all schools. Conscious of this and recognising the need to target resources to those schools that need them most, the next phase of work will explore the allocation of resources to schools to tackle educational disadvantage. Part of this programme of work will involve consultation with all relevant stakeholders.

In addition to this, following the National Census 2022 held on the 3rd April last, it is envisaged that an updated HP Deprivation Index will be generated by Pobal and will be available in Q3 of 2023. My Department will engage with Pobal in relation to this process. The updated HP Deprivation Index, when available, can be considered by my Department to inform future resource allocation to tackle educational disadvantage.