Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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260. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the progress of the Refined DEIS Identification Model, namely when the updated model of identification and classification for DEIS will be fully implemented; the number of schools that are captured within the new most-disadvantaged DEIS category; the additional supports and resources that are planned to be offered to schools falling within this category; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12121/23]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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My Department provides a wide range of supports to all schools, DEIS and non-DEIS, to support the inclusion of all students and address barriers to students achieving their potential.

Supplementing the universal supports available to all schools, the Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) Programme is a key policy initiative of my Department to address concentrated educational disadvantage at school level in a targeted and equitable way across the primary and post-primary sector.

In March last year, I announced a major expansion of the DEIS programme which means that, for the first time since 2017 the programme was significantly expanded to an additional 322 schools. The programme now includes over 1,200 schools and supports approximately 240,000 students. This means 1 in 4 of all students are now supported in the programme.

This recent expansion will add an additional €32 million to my Department’s expenditure on the DEIS programme from this year, bringing the overall Department of Education allocation for the programme to €180 million.

Schools 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.

A detailed paper on the refined DEIS identification model is available on gov.ie at www.gov.ie/en/publication/a3c9e-extension-of-deis-to-further-schools/#how-schools-were-selected-for-inclusion-in-deis.

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. Circular 0019/2022 outlined the details of the DEIS appeals process. The DEIS appeals process was applied fairly across all appellants, the window for appeals has now closed and the results are final.

Following this extension, there are currently 306 primary schools designated as DEIS Urban Band 1, 151 DEIS urban band 2 primary schools and 510 rural primary DEIS schools. In addition there are 235 DEIS post primary schools.

Details of the supports available to DEIS schools are available on the gov.ie website: gov.ie - DEIS Delivering Equality of Opportunity In Schools (www.gov.ie).

The extension of the DEIS programme to new schools is just one component 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 also recognise that there are students at risk of educational disadvantage in all schools. Since June 2020, and over the past three budgets, I have secured funding to provide measures to support children in this regard. As part of Budget 2023, I announced over €50 million to provide free books to primary school pupils within the free education scheme from next September. I have also further improved the staffing schedule for all primary schools to 23:1, the lowest it has ever been.

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, will be considered by my Department to help inform future resource allocation to tackle educational disadvantage.

The next phase of work will consider all schools, within and outside the DEIS programme and explore the overall allocation of resources to schools to tackle educational disadvantage. Part of this programme of work will involve consultation with relevant stakeholders over the coming months.

The significant investment to date and ongoing work of my Department reflects my commitment to supporting a quality and inclusive school system that provides an equal opportunity at success for children at risk of educational disadvantage.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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261. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason a school (details supplied) does not have DEIS rural status given all other three schools in the area have, the grounds on which DEIS rural status does not apply, if this can be reviewed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12127/23]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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My Department provides a wide range of supports to all schools, DEIS and non-DEIS, to support the inclusion of all students and address barriers to students achieving their potential.

Supplementing the universal supports available to all schools, the Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) Programme is a key policy initiative of my Department to address concentrated educational disadvantage at school level in a targeted and equitable way across the primary and post-primary sector.

In March last year, I announced a major expansion of the DEIS programme which means that, for the first time since 2017 the programme was significantly expanded to an additional 322 schools. The programme now includes over 1,200 schools and supports approximately 240,000 students. This means 1 in 4 of all students are now supported in the programme.

This recent expansion will add an additional €32million to my Department’s expenditure on the DEIS programme from 2023, bringing the overall Department of Education allocation for the programme to €180million.

Schools 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 DEIS identification process is based on the principle of concentrated disadvantage and the proportion of students from disadvantaged backgrounds within a school. The DEIS identification model aimed to identify those schools with the highest levels of concentrated disadvantage or the highest proportion of students from disadvantaged backgrounds within a school using the school's enrolment data and national census data as represented by the Pobal HP Deprivation index which is publicly available.

A detailed paper on the refined DEIS identification model is available on gov.ie at www.gov.ie/en/publication/a3c9e-extension-of-deis-to-further-schools/#how-schools-were-selected-for-inclusion-in-deis.

It is possible for neighbouring schools to have a different profile in terms of proportion of students from disadvantaged backgrounds and the relative weighting of disadvantage apportioned in each. The designation of neighbouring schools as DEIS or non DEIS does not mean that there is no educational disadvantage present in a non DEIS school, but that the concentrated level of educational disadvantage of the school is different to schools classified as DEIS. Gender of students, or the designation of a school as single or mixed is not a factor in the DEIS identification model.

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. Circular 0019/2022 outlined the details of the DEIS appeals process. The school referred to by the Deputy submitted an appeal at that time and this did not result in a change of status for that school. The DEIS appeals process was applied fairly across all appellants, the window for appeals has now closed and the results are final.

The extension of the DEIS programme to new schools is just one component 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 also recognise that there are students at risk of educational disadvantage in all schools. Since June 2020, and over the past three budgets, I have secured funding to provide measures to support children in this regard. As part of Budget 2023, I announced over €50 million to provide free books to primary school pupils within the free education scheme from next September. I have also further improved the staffing schedule for all primary schools to 23:1, the lowest it has ever been.

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, will be considered by my Department to help inform future resource allocation to tackle educational disadvantage.

The next phase of work will consider all schools, within and outside the DEIS programme and explore the overall allocation of resources to schools to tackle educational disadvantage. Part of this programme of work will involve consultation with relevant stakeholders over the coming months.

The significant investment to date and ongoing work of my Department reflects my commitment to supporting a quality and inclusive school system that provides an equal opportunity at success for children at risk of educational disadvantage.