Vol. 478 No. 4
144 Mr. Flood asked the Minister for Education the reason she has refused to allocate the breaking the cycle scheme to a school (details supplied) in Dublin 24; if her attention has been drawn to the fact that by giving the scheme to one half of the parish in question, great difficulties have been created for the unsuccessful school; if she will reverse her decision; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11211/97]
Decisions on the selection of schools for inclusion in the breaking the cycle initiative were made by the Education Research Centre on the basis of criteria devised by the centre. I was not involved in the selection process.
The schools in question were among those invited by the Education Research Centre to apply for inclusion in the urban phase of the breaking the cycle initiative. All applicant schools submitted data on the educational disadvantage of their pupils under a range of specific criteria devised by the Education Research Centre. The centre selected schools for inclusion in the initiative on the basis of priority of need as reflected in the data submitted.
Unfortunately, based on the data submitted, the schools in question were not among those selected by the Education Research Centre for inclusion in the initiative.
The needs of the schools in question will be considered in the event of any further development of the breaking the cycle initiative being undertaken.
