Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North-Central, Fianna Fail)
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574. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills for an update on an appeal by a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10862/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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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.

Following the largest expansion of the DEIS programme to date in 2022, the programme now includes in the region of 1,200 schools and supports approximately 260,000 students. This expansion added an additional €32million to my 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 at: www.gov.ie/pdf/?file=

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.

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 in the OECD Education for Inclusive Societies ‘Review of Resourcing Schools to Address Educational Disadvantage in Ireland' (2024). 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.

Tusla Education Support Service (TESS) is under the remit of my department. TESS operates under the Education (Welfare) Act, 2000, a piece of legislation that emphasises the promotion of school attendance, participation and retention. TESS has three strands namely the Statutory Educational Welfare Service (EWS) and the two school support services the Home School Community Liaison Scheme (HSCL) and the School Completion Programme (SCP).

My Department spends approximately €40 million annually on the Home School Community Liaison (HSCL) scheme which is delivered to almost 700 schools by 538 HSCL coordinators, serving approximately 207,000 pupils. Home School Liaison Coordinators provide a valuable service, and an important link between the home and school, promoting partnership between parents, teachers and community family support services, with a view to supporting improved attendance, participation and retention. A project to provide 10 HSCL coordinator posts to 14 non-DEIS post-primary schools with high numbers of Traveller and Roma students was established in 2022. In addition, the four HSCL posts established under the Supporting Traveller and Roma (STAR) in education pilot are retained for the 2025/26 and 2026/27 school years, to work alongside the ten HSCL posts. As part of this role, there will be a specific focus on most at risk Traveller and Roma students within the STAR regions, and those schools without current HSCL support under the DEIS programme.

The Programme for Government contains a commitment to expand the Home School Liaison Coordinator Scheme with new posts for schools demonstrating high need. As Minister, I am determined to close the performance gap between DEIS and non-DEIS schools and introduce more innovative solutions to tackle disadvantage. Part of delivering this objective will be through the introduction of a new DEIS plus scheme in line with the Programme for Government commitment to support schools with the highest levels of disadvantage.

The introduction of DEIS plus will build on progress which has been made in recent years, including the expansion of the DEIS programme which benefitted 361 schools, as well as the introduction of free schoolbooks and free hot school meals as universal measures that will support children and young people at risk of educational disadvantage in both DEIS and non-DEIS schools.

My Department has engaged with principals from a number of the schools and has heard about the barriers to education faced by children from areas of high intergenerational disadvantage. I have asked my department to intensify their engagement with other government departments and agencies, the education partners, and stakeholders across the education sector in order to develop a plan for a DEIS plus scheme that will address these barriers, within an overall work programme to tackle educational disadvantage.

Officials from my Department arranged for the TESS Integrated Service Manager to met with both principals and staff from the schools concerned. The Manager looked at the roles and duties being undertaken by the HSCL Coordinator. Currently, there is no scope to increase the HSCL allocation to these schools.