Tom Brabazon (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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451. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if multidisciplinary teams including counsellors, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists and educational psychologists will form part of the DEIS Plus supports available within schools. [63087/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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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 Strategy.

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. In order to form a student-centred design approach, the DEIS Plus scheme is currently being developed in collaboration with principals, Home School Community Liaison coordinators, School Completion Programme workers, and children and young people from schools experiencing the highest levels of disadvantage.

Details of the DEIS Plus scheme, including the allocation of funding, will be determined as part of the new DEIS Strategy, which will be announced before the end of the year.