Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 April 2022
924. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Education the reason that schools (details supplied) did not both receive DEIS status considering both schools are located directly next door to each other and have children from the same families, geographic areas, and socio-economic backgrounds attending both schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20578/22]
View answerI recently announced that from next September the DEIS programme will be extended to an additional 310 schools. 37 schools will also benefit from additional supports following reclassification. Schools were identified for inclusion in the programme through the refined DEIS identification model which is an objective, statistics based model. Schools were not required to apply for inclusion in the DEIS programme and the model has been applied fairly and equally to all schools.
My Department is committed to ensuring that all schools are treated equally and fairly in the manner in which they have been identified for inclusion in the DEIS programme. Schools who were not satisfied with the outcome following the application of the DEIS identification model to their school enrolment data will now have the opportunity to have that outcome reviewed.
Circular 0019/2022 outlining the details of this appeals process was published recently by my Department and is available at www.gov.ie/en/circular/7e7ca-deis-identification-2022-appeals-process-for-schools/
My Department notified all schools of the appeals process on 30th March 2022. Schools have until 5pm on Friday April 29th to submit an appeal.
