David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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359. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the requirements necessary to allow the appointment of a home-school community liaison to a school; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [61907/22]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) programme is my Department's main policy initiative to address educational disadvantage at school level. The Home School Community Liaison (HSCL) scheme is an integral element of the DEIS programme. It is a school-based intervention that seeks to promote partnership between parents, teachers and community family support services. A HSCL Coordinator is a teacher from a participating school/s who is released from teaching duties, for a maximum of five years, in order to work intensively with and support parents/guardians. The overarching goal of the HSCL Coordinator is to improve educational outcomes for children through their work with the key adults in the child’s life.

HSCL supports are provided to all DEIS Urban and DEIS Post-Primary schools. HSCL Coordinator posts are allocated on a full-time basis to a DEIS school or on a shared basis between a cluster of DEIS schools.

In the 2022/23 school year there are 529 HSCL posts allocated to provide supports to approximately 207,000 students under the DEIS programme.

In addition, there are a number of pilot projects to support the attendance, participation and retention of Traveller and Roma students for which HSCL supports have also been assigned.