Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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492. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to provide a breakdown of the funding allocated in budget 2026 for the DEIS plan and DEIS Plus programme. [55286/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Tackling educational disadvantage and helping students reach their full potential is a key priority for the Minister for Education and Youth. This is reflected in the funding secured in the Budget.

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.

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 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.

The plan will set out the Department of Education and Youth’s strategic vision, goals, and objectives to tackle educational disadvantage in all schools. The plan will focus on improving disadvantage in all schools, developing more innovative approaches to tackle educational disadvantage and working towards a more flexible system of support to ensure that schools can receive the right support at the right time.

The allocation of funding will be determined as part of the new DEIS plan.