Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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349. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the estimated cost of increasing teacher numbers by 1,850, 2,000 and 3,000, in tabular form. [31573/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The estimated costs requested by the Deputy are provided in tabular form in the attached file.

Estimates are based on the cost of New Entrant teachers at primary and post-primary level, and are inclusive of both substitution costs and Employer PRSI.

Values are calculated on the basis of the starting point of all new entrants in 2024 and applied to the salary scales in place on 01/01/2025.

PRIMARY TEACHERS - ESTIMATED COST OF ADDITIONAL POSTS

1. The above estimates are based on the costs of employing New Entrant teachers.

2. Values are calculated on the basis of the starting point of all new entrants in 2024 and applied to the salary scales in place on 01/01/2025.

3. Figures include substitution costs and the cost of Employer PRSI.

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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350. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the estimated cost of extending DEIS supports to an additional 50 schools. [31574/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Tackling educational disadvantage and supporting students to fulfil their full potential in life is a key priority for me as Minister for Education and Youth, and for the Government. The DEIS programme is a key policy of Government to tackle concentrated educational disadvantage at school level. It provides a targeted range of supports and is additional to the universal supports provided to all schools, such as the introduction of free school books and free hot school meals.

My department invests over €180 million annually to provide additional supports to almost 1,200 schools in the DEIS programme which supports approximately 260,000 students.

It would cost in the region of €8 million to extend DEIS supports to an additional 50 schools, but the final figure would depend on a number of factors, including the size of the schools involved.

The DEIS programme is targeted at schools with the highest levels of concentrated disadvantage. Schools that were included in the most recent expansion of 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.

Schools were identified for inclusion in the DEIS programme based on their standardised disadvantage score. Schools with the highest levels of concentrated disadvantage are included in the DEIS programme, with those urban primary schools having the very highest levels of disadvantage being assigned to Urban Band 1.

The DEIS programme 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, extra resources must be targeted as closely as possible at those students with the greatest level of 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. A new DEIS Plan will be published in 2025. This plan will focus on improving the opportunities and achievement levels of children at risk of educational disadvantage, developing more innovative approaches to tackling educational disadvantage, and working towards a more flexible system of supports to ensure that a school can receive the right support at the right time.