Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 November 2019
120. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Education and Skills the estimated cost of reopening applications for DEIS band 2 and designating DEIS band 2 existing schools that would meet the criteria at present. [46753/19]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, following the review of DEIS, my Department introduced an objective, statistics based model for assessing which schools merit inclusion in the DEIS Programme, which does not require schools to go through an application process. All schools at both Primary and Post Primary level are being assessed using the new identification model.
My Department is currently undertaking data analysis in the context of resource allocation to match identified need.. This analysis is being carried out by members of the DEIS Technical Group which contains representatives of the Department’s Statistics and Social Inclusion Units, the Inspectorate and the Educational Research Centre. Work is ongoing by this group and significant progress has been made. I am confident that the culmination of this analysis will facilitate the ultimate aim of matching resources to identified need and will allow us to target extra resources at those schools most in need. Until this analysis is complete, it is not intended to extend the DEIS programme to any further schools. It is also not possible to estimate associated costs until this process is complete as costs depend on the levels of disadvantage and enrolments in individual schools and the level of resources to be provided.
