Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

195. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of home school liaison support workers in Donegal in 2024; and the number in 2020, in tabular form. [37841/24]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Home School Community Liaison (HSCL) scheme is one of the key supports provided by my Department as part of the overall DEIS programme. Tusla Education Support Service (TESS) manage the HSCL scheme on behalf of my Department. The scheme seeks to promote partnership between parents, teachers and community family support services, with a view to supporting improved attendance, participation and retention.

All DEIS urban primary schools and all DEIS post-primary schools are included in the HSCL scheme, which currently serves 687 DEIS schools, catering for approximately 207,000 children and young people. The scheme is delivered by 528 full-time HSCL Coordinators, who are teachers in these schools and assigned to HSCL duties, either in individual schools or in clusters of schools.

In addition to the above, a pilot project to support Traveller and Roma pupils, under the National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy, is in operation in 4 locations with 1 HSCL Coordinator assigned in each location. A further 10 HSCL Coordinators are employed under Dormant Accounts funding to support attendance, participation and retention among Traveller and Roma students, across 14 non-DEIS post-primary schools.

The number of HSCL Coordinators in Co Donegal in 2024 and in 2020 is as follows:

You will note that number of HSCL Coordinators in Co Donegal has increased by 11 since 2020. This is as a result of the single largest expansion of the DEIS programme that I announced in March 2022, which benefited 361 schools.

The DEIS programme now includes in the region of 1,200 schools and supports approximately 260,000 students. 1 in 4 students and 30% of all schools are now supported under the programme.

The expansion added an additional €32 million to my Department’s expenditure on the DEIS programme from 2023, bringing the overall allocation for the programme to over €180 million.