Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

289. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the application, selection process and criteria that apply for a secondary school to gain DEIS status; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4333/25]

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

292. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the selection process and criteria that apply for a secondary school to participate in the breaking the cycle scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4336/25]

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

293. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the selection process and criteria that apply for a secondary school to participate in giving children an even break scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4337/25]

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

294. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the application, selection process and criteria that apply for a secondary school to participate in the disadvantaged area scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4338/25]

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

295. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the selection process and criteria that apply for a secondary school to participate in home school community liaison scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4339/25]

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

296. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the selection process and criteria that apply for a secondary school to participate in the school completion programme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4340/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 289 and 292 to 296, inclusive, together.

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 DEIS concept was introduced in 2005 in DEIS an Action Plan for Social Inclusion. The DEIS concept recognised that under achievement in school can have profound consequences for children, young people and adults in later life, including economic uncertainty, well-being and health issues, low self-esteem and problems participating in family and community life.

The 2005 DEIS Plan recognised the lack of a standardised system for identifying levels of disadvantage in schools and sought to improve methods for the identification of schools whose were supporting children and young people who were at risk of educational disadvantage, and the targeting of additional supports to such schools under a range of measures. This was examined in the Educational Research Centre (ERC) report, A Report on the Procedures Used to Identify Post-Primary Schools for Inclusion in The School Support Programme Under DEIS. This includes various measures used to include schools in Early Start, Giving Children an Even Break, the Home School Community Liaison Scheme (HSCL) the School Completion Programme (SCP), the Early Literacy Initiative and the Schoolbooks Grant Schemes at primary and second level. The development of the DEIS programme brought this range of individual programme together as a suite of supports for schools in the programme and also included the provision of additional supports for vulnerable groups, particularly Travellers and children and young people for whom English or Irish was not their first language.

Following the largest expansion of the DEIS programme to date in 2022, benefitting 361 schools, the programme now includes in the region of 1,200 schools and supports approximately 260,000 students. This expansion added an additional €32million to the department’s expenditure on the DEIS programme from 2023, bringing the overall allocation for the programme to over €180million.

The DEIS programme is targeted at schools with the highest levels of concentrated disadvantage. Schools that were included in the programme in 2022 were those with the highest levels of concentrated disadvantage as identified through the refined DEIS identification model. Schools were not required to apply for inclusion in the DEIS programme and the model was applied fairly and equally to all schools. A detailed paper on the refined DEIS identification model is available on gov.ie.

The extension of the DEIS programme to new schools is just one component of work in the departments 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.

The DEIS Plan is based on the premise that in order to have the maximum possible impact on providing opportunities for students most at risk of educational disadvantage, then extra resources need to be targeted as closely as possible at those students with the greatest level of need. This will involve further development of the DEIS programme to create a more dynamic resource allocation model where levels of resources more accurately follow the levels of need identified by objective data.

To support this, work the department 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.

In July 2024 the department also welcomed the publication by the OECD Education for Inclusive Societies project of the ‘Review of Resourcing Schools to Address Educational Disadvantage in Ireland'. The OECD review sets a number of recommendations for future policy, to further improve equity and ensure every child and young person at risk of educational disadvantage is supported to achieve their potential in education.

The department is working with other government departments and agencies, the education partners, and stakeholders across the education sector to develop tangible actions informed by the recommendations set out. These actions will aim to build on the success of the DEIS programme through the development of a dynamic resource allocation model that can respond to changing levels of need and ensure that all children and young people in both DEIS and non-DEIS schools are supported to achieve in education.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

290. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills whether a school (details supplied) can apply for DEIS status; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4334/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Tackling educational disadvantage and improving the supports which are available to schools is a key priority for me as Minister for Education and Youth.

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.

Following the largest expansion of the DEIS programme to date in 2022, benefiting 361 schools, the programme now includes in the region of 1,200 schools and supports approximately 260,000 students. This expansion added an additional €32million to the department’s expenditure on the DEIS programme from 2023, bringing the overall allocation for the programme to over €180million.

The DEIS programme is targeted at schools with the highest levels of concentrated disadvantage. Schools that were included in the programme in 2022 were those with the highest levels of concentrated disadvantage as identified through the refined DEIS identification model. Schools were not required to apply for inclusion in the DEIS programme and the model was applied fairly and equally to all schools. A detailed paper on the refined DEIS identification model is available on gov.ie.

The DEIS Plan is based on the premise that in order to have the maximum possible impact on providing opportunities for students most at risk of educational disadvantage, then extra resources need to be targeted as closely as possible at those students with the greatest level of need. This will involve further development of the DEIS programme to create a more dynamic resource allocation model where levels of resources more accurately follow the levels of need identified by objective data.

To support this, work my department 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.

In July 2024 my department welcomed the publication by the OECD Education for Inclusive Societies project of the ‘Review of Resourcing Schools to Address Educational Disadvantage in Ireland'. The OECD review sets a number of recommendations for future policy, to further improve equity and ensure every child and young person at risk of educational disadvantage is supported to achieve their potential in education.

My department is working with other government departments and agencies, the education partners, and stakeholders across the education sector to develop tangible actions informed by the recommendations set out. These actions will aim to build on the success of the DEIS programme through the development of a dynamic resource allocation model that can respond to changing levels of need and ensure that all children and young people in both DEIS and non-DEIS schools are supported to achieve in education.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

291. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills whether a school (details supplied) can apply for DEIS status; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4335/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

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.

Following the largest expansion of the DEIS programme to date in 2022, benefiting 361 schools, the programme now includes in the region of 1,200 schools and supports approximately 260,000 students. This expansion added an additional €32million to the department’s expenditure on the DEIS programme from 2023, bringing the overall allocation for the programme to over €180million.

The DEIS programme is targeted at schools with the highest levels of concentrated disadvantage. Schools that were included in the programme in 2022 were those with the highest levels of concentrated disadvantage as identified through the refined DEIS identification model. Schools were not required to apply for inclusion in the DEIS programme and the model was applied fairly and equally to all schools. A detailed paper on the refined DEIS identification model is available on gov.ie.

The DEIS Plan is based on the premise that in order to have the maximum possible impact on providing opportunities for students most at risk of educational disadvantage, then extra resources need to be targeted as closely as possible at those students with the greatest level of need. This will involve further development of the DEIS programme to create a more dynamic resource allocation model where levels of resources more accurately follow the levels of need identified by objective data.

To support this, work my department 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.

In July 2024 my department welcomed the publication by the OECD Education for Inclusive Societies project of the ‘Review of Resourcing Schools to Address Educational Disadvantage in Ireland'. The OECD review sets a number of recommendations for future policy, to further improve equity and ensure every child and young person at risk of educational disadvantage is supported to achieve their potential in education.

Over the coming months my department will work with other government departments and agencies, the education partners, and stakeholders across the education sector to develop tangible actions informed by the recommendations set out. These actions will aim to build on the success of the DEIS programme through the development of a dynamic resource allocation model that can respond to changing levels of need and ensure that all children and young people in both DEIS and non-DEIS schools are supported to achieve in education.