Tom Brabazon (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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448. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the timeframe for the implementation of the new DEIS Plus Programme; and if she will ensure that DEIS Plus funding and resources will be made available to participating schools before the end of the 2025-2026 school year to allow for advance planning, staffing, and resource allocation. [63084/25]

Tom Brabazon (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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449. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if all DEIS Plus funding will be directed primarily to schools, rather than intermediary agencies, to ensure that resources go directly to children and classroom supports; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [63085/25]

Tom Brabazon (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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450. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if her Department will commit to giving schools autonomy in the way in which DEIS Plus resources are used locally, given the ability of school leaders and boards of management to best assess their own pupils’ needs. [63086/25]

Tom Brabazon (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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452. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if DEIS Plus will include specific supports for trauma-informed education, including funding for nurture rooms, wellbeing spaces, and additional staffing to support children impacted by disadvantage and trauma. [63088/25]

Tom Brabazon (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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453. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the way in which her Department will coordinate the work of DEIS Plus schools with agencies such as Tusla, TESS, NEPS, the NCSE and the School Completion Programme, while ensuring that DEIS Plus funding remains school and pupil centred. [63089/25]

Tom Brabazon (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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454. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the way in which her Department will measure the impact of the DEIS Plus programme on educational outcomes, attendance, and wellbeing in participating schools. [63090/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 448, 449, 450, 452, 453 and 454 together.

Tackling educational disadvantage and helping students reach their full potential is a key priority for me as Minister for Education and Youth. 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 support the implementation of the new DEIS Strategy and introduce the DEIS Plus scheme, which will commence in 2026.

To inform the development of the DEIS Plus scheme, a design advisory group was established including school principals, Home School Community Liaison officers, and School Completion Programme coordinators - professionals who work directly with children experiencing high levels of disadvantage.

The DEIS Plus scheme will provide additional support to schools with the highest levels of need, in line with the Government’s commitment. It will target a cohort of schools with high concentrations of children and young people experiencing intergenerational disadvantage where there is a significant gap in outcomes and there are barriers to those children and young people achieving their potential.

Schools will not be required to apply for inclusion in the DEIS Plus scheme. The process will be evidence-informed, using available data. The details of the DEIS Plus scheme are currently being finalised within an overall programme of work to tackle educational disadvantage and will be outlined in the new DEIS Strategy, which will be published before the end of the year. Future allocation of overall resources will be considered within the context of the new DEIS Strategy and the availability of resources.