Vol. 469 No. 3
112 Miss Quill asked the Minister for Education the reason two schools (details supplied) in Cork city were excluded from the breaking the cycle scheme; and the measures, if any, she proposes to take to rectify the situation. [17173/96]
The schools referred to by the Deputy have for some time been included in the disadvantaged areas scheme, and as such enjoy considerable benefits in terms of staffing and resources.
Both of the schools were also invited to apply for inclusion under the urban phase of the new breaking the cycle initiative. Schools were selected for support under this initiative by reference to new selection criteria which were developed by the Education Research Centre. The new criteria take on board the recommendations of the Combat Poverty Agency.
All urban applicant schools, including those referred to by the Deputy, submitted data to the Education Research Centre on a standard application form devised by the centre, the aim being to assess the level of educational deprivation on the basis of the data supplied. The Education Research Centre reviewed the data and established a list in order of need as reflected by the data submitted by the schools themselves. The schools selected were those which scored highest across the range of disadvantage criteria.
I recently announced the names of the schools selected for inclusion in the urban phase of breaking the cycle. Unfortunately, the schools referred to by the Deputy did not rank high enough on the priority list to be included in this initiative.
