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Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 17 Apr 1997

Vol. 477 No. 7

Written Answers. - Disadvantaged Status.

Máirín Quill

Question:

125 Miss Quill asked the Minister for Education if St. Marie's of the Isle national school, Cork, will be granted disadvantaged status; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10345/97]

Máirín Quill

Question:

127 Miss Quill asked the Minister for Education when Sunday's Well boys national school, Strawberry Hill, Cork, will be granted a concessionary post under the disadvantaged areas scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10347/97]

Máirín Quill

Question:

129 Miss Quill asked the Minister for Education if she will grant disadvantaged status to Sunday's Well girls national school, Strawberry Hill, Cork; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10349/97]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 125, 127 and 129 together.

I have no plans at present to extend disadvantaged area status to additional primary schools.

Detailed studies of educational disadvantage conducted by the Combat Poverty Agency and the Education Research Centre concluded that disadvantaged area supports should be confined to 16 per cent of the school-going population. The studies noted that the disadvantaged area scheme already extends to more than 17 per cent of pupils.
In line with the findings of these studies, I recently launched the "Breaking the Cycle" initiative which seeks to target a special package of supports on selected urban and rural schools which have been identified as suffering serious levels of educational disadvantage. The selected schools were identified by the Education Research Centre on the basis of priority of need as reflected under a range of criteria devised by the centre.
The two Sunday's Well schools mentioned by the Deputy already have disadvantaged status for funding purposes. However, I am not in a position at present to allocate additional concessionary teacher posts to schools in the disadvantaged areas scheme. Such posts are allocated to schools in disadvantaged areas where resources permit and on the basis of priority of need.
In the event of such posts becoming available, the needs of the schools in question will be considered.
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