Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 1 February 2022
55. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Education the status of the roll-out of the expansion of delivering equality of opportunity in schools, DEIS, as committed to in budget 2022. [4817/22]
View answerThe expansion of DEIS and the additional funding in 2022 was welcome. We have heard little about it or how the review or expansion are progressing since. I have written to the Minister's Department six times since last summer, looking for a meeting to discuss this, and have raised it at the Joint Committee on Education, Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, and through other channels. Will the Minister provide an update of the timeline for when schools can be expected to benefit from this additional funding?
Budget 2022 has provided for an allocation of €18 million for 2022 and €32 million for 2023 to extend the delivery of DEIS programme to further schools with the highest levels of disadvantage. This package represents an increase of more than 20% on the €150 million already allocated by my Department to provide supports for schools in the DEIS programme. The programme currently supports 884 schools. The additional funding provided in budget 2022 will allow for the extension of the programme to additional schools from September 2022.
This year's package follows an extensive body of work that was undertaken by the DEIS technical group on the development of a model to identify the concentrated levels of disadvantage of schools. The DEIS identification process, under DEIS Plan 2017, is based on an objective, statistics-based model to determine which schools merit inclusion in the programme. An extensive body of work has been undertaken by the DEIS technical group to develop the refined DEIS identification. The key data sources used in the DEIS identification process are the Department of Education primary online database and post-primary online databases, and CSO data from the national census of population as represented in the Pobal HP index for small areas, which is a method of measuring the relative affluence or disadvantage of a particular geographical area.
It is important to note that schools are not required to apply for inclusion in the DEIS programme and that all schools will be considered under the refined model when it is applied. During the process to refine the DEIS identification model, as is general practice in the Department, the Department has consulted with education partners, including school management and national parent representative bodies and unions, on the technical aspects of the refinement of the DEIS identification model. The purpose of this engagement is to ensure that, as far as possible, the refined DEIS identification model can provide an objective and independent means of identifying schools serving high concentrations of pupils at risk of educational disadvantage and also to ensure there is a full understanding of the refined model and its potential application. There will be further engagement with relevant stakeholders in advance of the implementation of the refined DEIS identification model.
The programme for Government sets out a commitment to complete the new DEIS identification model, ensuring the extension of DEIS status to schools that are identified as being suitable.
I thank the Minister. Will she confirm that this will happen in September 2022? This is around the time that schools traditionally prepare their staff and schedules. They need this information quickly if they are going to benefit from a DEIS designation. I have raised this matter in the past. In the previous DEIS allocation around, there was a significant missed opportunity for DEIS band 2 schools that could have gained, relating to home school, community liaison, school completion measures and so on, but that did not do so. The Minister has identified some of the stakeholders. There is also some wisdom and some observations from Opposition spokespersons. They have not been engaged with despite more than six requests on my part. I understand that the criteria have now been set. Is that the case? Many of us had observations to inform the criteria. Some of the stakeholders that the Minister identified were not asked their views about all of this either, as I understand it. Whom did she consult? Are the criteria now set? If not, will she inform me of that?
We intend to be in a position to roll out the DEIS model for 2022. We have an ambition programme of funding being made available for it. It was a considerable achievement that, for budget 2022, there was €18 million available, rising to €32 million in 2023, with the explicit intention of enhancing or extending the DEIS model in our schools. A greater number of schools will be included in the DEIS scheme. Extensive work has been undertaken. There has been engagement with stakeholders, as I have outlined to the Deputy. At every stage I welcome the thoughts of Opposition Deputies. The Deputy is welcome to make those thoughts known to me. Regarding this specific engagement, I believe that my Department has communicated to him that, as we come towards the finalisation of the programme, we will consult with all of the stakeholders once again, including Opposition spokespersons.
I welcome that. I received that communication today. I hope that happens. The basis on which that engagement will happen depends on where the process is. Are the criteria finalised? Can the Minister tell me that? That would have been an area that the Opposition might have hoped to offer constructive thoughts on.
I am not sure I can think of a single Deputy who does not want to see DEIS expanded, who does not support the programme or does not want to see it deliver what it can. I do not know if there is a single Deputy who would not have welcomed what happened in the budget but we want to make sure that every school that deserves it has the best chance. We know there were issues with the previous criteria. The criteria did not, for example, take into account rent supplement, and the housing assistance payment, HAP, did not even exist at the time. There are all sorts of issues. It is not always the case that the profile of the students match the immediate physical area. In urban areas there can be schools cheek by jowl that are quite different. There can be big differences between schools even though they are within the same community. We would have liked to inform the criteria. I have a direct question for the Minister and I would like her to answer it directly and clearly. Is the criteria finalised?
Again, to confirm to the Deputy, the process of refining the DEIS identification model has been a consequence of and is reliant on the engagement of a variety of stakeholders, as I have already outlined, including school management, national parent representative bodies, unions and so on, particularly with regard to the technical aspects of the refinement. In advance of completion and implementation of the DEIS identification model there will be further engagement with relevant stakeholders. As I have outlined to Deputy Ó Laoghaire, there will be an opportunity, as we near the end of the process, to engage with Opposition spokespersons also.
Is it finalised?
