Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 224, 225 and 227 together.

Currently, all DEIS Urban Primary and Post Primary schools are included in the Home School Community Liaison Scheme (HSCL), which serves 687 DEIS schools. The scheme is delivered by 530 full-time HSCL Coordinators who are teachers in these schools and assigned to HSCL duties either in individual schools or in clusters of schools, catering for approximately 207,000 pupils. This includes 230 post primary DEIS schools, of which 178 schools (77.4%) are assigned a full HSCL post and 52 schools are assigned a shared post.

The HSCL scheme seeks to promote partnership between parents, teachers and community family support services, with a view to supporting improved attendance, participation and retention.

The scheme is one of a suite of initiatives funded by my Department as part of the overall DEIS programme and Tusla Education Support Services (TESS) manages the scheme on behalf of my Department.

When the DEIS programme was first established, 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. The supports provided under DEIS to post-primary schools are listed at www.gov.ie/en/policy-information/4018ea-deis-delivering-equality-of-opportunity-in-schools/.

The school in question was clustered with a local DEIS primary school for a number of years for HSCL support. 1 HSCL coordinator post was shared between the two schools. In 2019, the primary school and two other local DEIS primary schools amalgamated to form one school. My Department allocated one HSCL post to the newly amalgamated DEIS primary school. In addition, the HSCL shared post was retained. The school in question has therefore retained the same level of HSCL support that it has held for a number of years, i.e. a shared HSCL post.

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 www.gov.ie/en/publication/a3c9e-extension-of-deis-to-further-schools/#how-schools-were-selected-for-inclusion-in-deis.

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.

Tusla Education Support Service’s (TESS) Integrated Service Manager, assigned to the area, is available to assist the school in question. TESS will continue to provide support to help ensure that the allocated post is utilised to its fullest potential in order to best support those who are most in need.