Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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491. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the DEIS plan currently supports 260,000 people; and the number of additional people the DEIS Plus programme will support. [55285/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The DEIS programme is a key policy of Government to tackle concentrated educational disadvantage at school level. The Minister for Education and Youth is determined to close the performance gap between DEIS and non-DEIS schools and introduce more innovative solutions to tackle disadvantage. The new DEIS plan will be published this year and will include a DEIS plus scheme.

Currently, the DEIS programme supports almost 1,200 primary and post-primary schools reaching approximately 260,000 students, with an annual investment of over investment of over €180 million.

Budget 2026 allocates an additional €16 million in 2026, rising to €48 million in 2027 to introduce the DEIS plus scheme and support the implementation of the new DEIS plan.

The DEIS plus scheme will provide additional supports to schools with the highest level of need, in line with Government’s commitment. It will provide targeted support to a small group of schools with the highest concentration of students experiencing intergenerational disadvantage.

Details of the new DEIS plan are currently being developed in collaboration with an Advisory group and will be announced at the end of this year. The allocation of funding will be determined as part of the new DEIS plan.