James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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543. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the procedures for the way in which a primary school can be included in the DEIS scheme; if her Department has considered a school in County Cork (details supplied) for inclusion in the scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48647/25]

Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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566. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if a school (details supplied) will be included in the DEIS scheme at the earliest opportunity. [48871/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 543 and 566 together.

Tackling education disadvantage and helping students reach their full potential is a key priority for me as Minister for Education and Youth, and for the Government. Currently, the DEIS programme supports almost 1,200 primary and post-primary schools, reaching approximately 260,000 students, with an annual investment of over € 180 million.

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.

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 this year, which will include a DEIS Plus scheme. The new DEIS 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.

Future allocation of overall resources will be considered within the context of the new DEIS Plan and the availability of resources.