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.

The identification of schools for inclusion in DEIS is based on the “multiplier effect” of concentrated levels of socio-economic disadvantage on the educational experience. The approach is grounded in international evidence and it is considered that it is the combination of the various interventions under DEIS that have enabled it to succeed. Recent endorsements for the approach include a 2018 OECD report, Equity in Education – breaking down barriers to social mobility which showed that educationally disadvantaged students do much better in schools where they are a minority, thereby demonstrating the importance of focusing support on concentrated numbers of students from areas of significant socio-economic disadvantage.

When the Delivering Equality of Education in Schools (DEIS) programme was first established in 2005 schools were identified for inclusion in the programme using different means than currently, and the methods differed at primary and post-primary levels. At primary level a survey of school principals provided data on the percentage of students in the school with the following characteristics : – parents who were unemployed; living in local authority accommodation; from lone parent families; of Traveller ethnicity; from large families (more than 5 children); and eligible for free books. At post-primary level centralised information was used to identify schools for inclusion: the percentage of students with medical cards; school level retention rates for several cohorts; and Junior Certificate achievement data over a period of time.

It was through this identification process that the school referred to by the Deputy was included in the DEIS programme, and it has been in receipt of the full range of supports under the DEIS school support programme since that time. The designation of a DEIS school as DEIS Band 1, Band 2 or Rural only applies to primary schools. The school to which the Deputy refers is a post-primary school. All post-primary DEIS schools receive the same supports, which are listed at www.gov.ie/en/policy-information/4018ea-deis-delivering-equality-of-opportunity-in-schools/.

In March last year, I announced the single largest expansion of the DEIS programme. This benefited 361 schools. The programme now includes 1,200 schools and supports approximately 240,000 students. This means 1 in 4 of all students are now supported in the programme.

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

My Department is continuing to undertake work towards achieving its vision for an inclusive education system which supports all learners to achieve their potential. It also recognises that we need to target resources to those schools who need them most. That is why my Department has undertaken a programme of work to explore the allocation of resources to schools to address educational disadvantage. To support this work my Department have invited the OECD Strength Through Diversity: Education for Inclusive Societies Project to review the current policy approach for the allocation of resources to support students at risk of educational disadvantage in Ireland. This review will provide an independent expert opinion on the current resource allocation model for the DEIS programme and, drawing on international examples, inform a policy approach for an equitable distribution of supplementary resources to support students at risk of educational disadvantage attending all schools, both DEIS and non-DEIS. The OECD are engaging with a range of relevant stakeholders to inform the review process as well as drawing on international examples. The OECD estimates that the review will be completed in Q2 2024.

The OECD review is being complimented by a programme of work by my Department which will look at reviewing individual resources and allocation approaches. This work will consider the allocation of resources, including Home School Community Liaison support, within the DEIS programme. This work will be involve consultation with a range of relevant stakeholders. It will also seek to ensure that schools are supported to ensure every child has an equal opportunity to achieve their potential.

Following the National Census held in April 2022, 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.