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DEIS Scheme

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 January 2021

Wednesday, 13 January 2021

Questions (431)

Emer Higgins

Question:

431. Deputy Emer Higgins asked the Minister for Education if DEIS status will be allocated to a school (details supplied) in County Longford; if she will consider the strains on resources, the dramatic job restructuring in the area at present and the fact that the student population in the school comprises homes in which 27% are lone parents, 44% are social protection recipients and 37% English as an additional language, EAL; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44762/20]

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Written answers

My Department is in the final stages of refinement of the new DEIS identification model, based on school enrolment data and the latest data available from Census 2016 using the HP Deprivation Index. A detailed quality analysis of the data has been 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. The work of this group is at an advanced stage and a consultation process with education stakeholder representatives on the technical aspect and implementation of this model has commenced. It is envisaged that this will then provide the basis for development of a DEIS resource allocation system to match resources to identified need.

I am confident that the culmination of this work 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 work is complete, it is not intended to extend the DEIS programme to any further schools.

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