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Seanad Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 22 Apr 1997

Vol. 151 No. 2

Adjournment Matters. - Clones (Monaghan) School.

I want to try to convince the Minister of the need to confer disadvantaged status on the St. Louis junior school, Clones, County Monaghan. My reason for doing so is that the senior and post primary schools in Clones have already been conferred with that status. I am sure the Minister will agree that Clones has been a disadvantaged area for many years because of its geographic location on the Border. Approximately 66 per cent of the town's catchment area is situated on the northern side of the Border and its past importance is signified by its three hotels. Clones has suffered incredibly from economic woes, which began in the 1960s.

Following the long debate on the Universities Bill, during which she did not once slur her words, I ask the Minister to tear up her prepared script. In light of the circumstances of this particular school, and given certain other information about Clones of which the Minister is aware but which I will not put on record. I ask her to respond positively to this motion.

Would that it were so easy. The disadvantaged areas scheme was last expanded in 1994 when an additional 54 primary schools were newly included in it. The case put forward by the school in question was considered at that time. Unfortunately, when regard was had to the relative levels of need among competing schools, the needs of the school in question were not considered to be of such priority as to warrant its inclusion on that occasion. Traditionally, schools have been selected for inclusion in the disadvantaged areas scheme on the basis of priority of need as reflected under a range of socio-economic indicators. The indicators took account of levels of unemployment, medical card holding and local authority housing occupancy. However, in 1995 I commissioned the Combat Poverty Agency and the Education Research Centre to conduct a detailed review of current approaches to addressing the problem. My decision to commission the study arose from a concern to ensure that supports were properly targeted and that children with real need were in a position to benefit from the scheme.

The criteria used in selecting the schools was addressed in the study. There was concern that the scheme did not have due regard to rural and dispersed disadvantage. It was recommended that the criteria used be amended to better reflect disadvantage. It was also recommended that a more targeted approach be adopted and it was considered that disadvantaged area supports should be confined to 16 per cent of the school going population. In this regard, it was noted that the present scheme extends to more than 17 per cent of pupils. In response to these findings, I launched a new targeted intervention aimed at breaking the cycle of disadvantage in urban and rural areas. The urban phase of the initiative is in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford. The rural phase of the initiative focused on schools with fewer than five teachers.

All eligible schools were invited by the Education Research Centre to apply for inclusion and it selected the schools. A total of 33 urban and 123 rural schools were selected and the schools were required to prepare a five year plan. The operation of the "Breaking the Cycle" initiative is being closely monitored by the Department's inspectorate and the project will be evaluated by the Education Research Centre. The outcome of this evaluation will provide a basis for considering future developments in supports for disadvantaged areas. In the event of such developments being undertaken, the needs of the school to which the Senator refers will be fully considered.

I thank the Minister for her reply. She is familiar with this case and with recent developments in Clones. The school will lose a teacher this year and the students there will be even more disadvantaged. I will leave the matter in the Minister's capable hands.

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