Colm Brophy
Question:180. Deputy Colm Brophy asked the Minister for Education and Skills the estimated cost of expanding the DEIS programme in order to cover 50% more children. [53761/19]
View answerWednesday, 18 December 2019
Questions (180)
Written answers
In 2019 my Department will spend in the region of €125 million on the 891 schools participating in the programme and serving in excess of 185,000 children. The full list of supports available to DEIS schools is available on my Department's website at the following link https://www.education.ie/en/Schools-Colleges/Services/DEIS-Delivering-Equality-of-Opportunity-in-Schools-/deis-supports-to-deis-schools-effective-from-2017-2018-school-year.pdf.
It is not possible to definitively provide the total cost of expanding the DEIS programme in order to cover 50% more children as the costs will vary from school to school depending on enrolment and the levels of disadvantage in individual schools.
In the 2019/20 school year, the total spend on DEIS is spread across 891 schools participating in the DEIS Programme. The composition is as follows:
Primary Urban Band 1 - 231
Primary Urban Band 2 - 104
Primary Rural - 358
Post Primary - 198
Further expenditure is incurred by the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection on the School Meals Programme and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs on the School Completion Programme.