William Aird (Laois, Fine Gael)
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366. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the criteria for the appointment of home school liaison resources for schools under new DEIS strategy to 2035; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29246/26]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Addressing educational disadvantage in all schools is a key priority for me as Minister for Education and Youth. The Home School Community Liaison (HSCL) scheme is a core element of the DEIS programme and of the wider Tusla Education Support Service (TESS). HSCL coordinators are teachers assigned for a maximum of five years to work directly with parents, guardians, school staff and community services to strengthen engagement between home, school and the community. The overarching aim of HSCL is to improve attendance, participation and retention, particularly for children and young people experiencing educational disadvantage.

Urban DEIS primary schools and all DEIS post-primary schools are currently included in the HSCL scheme. However, I am aware that there are children and young people at risk of education disadvantage enrolled in other schools. The OECD’s Review of Resourcing Schools to Address Educational Disadvantage in Ireland found that schools not in the DEIS programme, in particular, may not have the capacity to engage effectively with families of children at risk of educational disadvantage and recommended the extension of partial DEIS supports to schools that are not in the programme. The Programme for Government also commits to expanding HSCL supports to schools demonstrating high need.

I am pleased to be adding an additional 120 HSCL coordinators under the new DEIS Strategy to 2035 and the DEIS Plus scheme. Following this increase, there will be 660 HSCL coordinators working to support 21% of all schools, both DEIS and non-DEIS.

The 120 additional HSCL coordinator posts are as a result of:

• Increased provision of HSCL coordinators in DEIS schools to match the level of disadvantage using the most recent data, benefitting 121 DEIS schools in the DEIS programme.
• Increased provision of HSCL coordinators in schools in the DEIS Plus scheme to ensure each has a full time HSCL coordinator. 46 schools will move from a shared post to a full-time post.
• Introduction of a pilot scheme to provide access to HSCL supports for some schools not in the DEIS programme and for some DEIS rural schools. These two categories do not currently have access to a HSCL. Under this measure approximately 130 schools will benefit from 60 additional posts.

• National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) provides educational psychological service to all primary and post-primary schools and special schools to support the well-being, academic, social and emotional development of all learners.
• The Special Education Teaching (SET) allocation provides a unified allocation for special education support teaching needs to each school based on each school’s educational profile and also encompasses an element of English as an additional language (EAL) support allocation. Under this SET model, schools are frontloaded with resources to provide support immediately to those pupils who need it without delay.
• Free schoolbooks are provided to all children and young people in the Free Education Scheme.
• Inspectorate support helps improve education provision for all children and young people. They promote best practice and school improvement by advising teachers, principals and boards of management in schools.
• Through the Department of Social Protection, the School Meals Programme provides regular, nutritious food to children to support them in taking full advantage of the education provided to them. The Hot School Meals Programme is available to all primary schools, meaning that approximately 3,700 schools and organisations and 682,000 children are now eligible for the Schools Meals Programme.