Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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481. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the expected timeline for the expansion of the Junior Certificate school programme demonstration library project as committed to in the Programme for Government; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48092/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy has noted, the Programme for Government commits to expanding the Junior Certificate School Programme (JCSP) Library Project. The JCSP Demonstration Library Project was developed in 2002 under the Early Literacy Initiative. Within the Demonstration Library Project, there are 32 professional librarians employed by the CDETB who are based in 30 schools that works part of a network to operate the library facility. They are managed by the Senior Librarian. Librarians are responsible, together with key school staff, for drawing up and implementing library strategies to tackle the literacy difficulties experienced by many JCSP students.

In this regard, my Department continues to work in partnership with the national library service. We are exploring ways to strengthening this partnership through the library service five-year strategy published in July 2023 and the Literacy, Numeracy and Digital Literacy Strategy 2024 to 2033. The Strategy was launched in May 2024, and developed between my Department and the Department of Children, Equality, and Disability. The Strategy is set across all stages of the learner's journey from early learning and care to post-primary school. It aims to promote the development of essential literacy, numeracy, and digital literacy skills, knowledge, and dispositions with a particular focus on our learners from disadvantaged backgrounds.

In addition, the DEIS programme is a key policy initiative of Government to address concentrated educational disadvantage at school level. It is a goal of this Government to reduce educational disadvantage and promote equity across Irish schools, focusing particularly on vulnerable groups including children from lower socio-economic backgrounds, children living in homelessness, Travellers, and Roma and migrant communities. 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. Over €180 million is allocated annually, by my Department, to almost 1,200 schools and 260,000 children and young people in the DEIS programme.

The success of the DEIS programme is clear: schools in the programme have significantly closed the gap with non-DEIS schools. International studies show that children at risk of educational disadvantage in Ireland have higher outcomes in literacy and numeracy than children from similar backgrounds in most other countries. I am determined to further close the performance gap between DEIS and non-DEIS schools and introduce more innovative solutions to tackle disadvantage so that these children and young people can fulfil their potential.

The new DEIS Plan to be published this year will set out my Department’s strategic direction for 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.