Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 11 May 2022
172. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Education the reason that a school (details supplied) in County Tipperary has not been granted DEIS status given that the two other secondary schools in the town have been granted DEIS status; if this decision can be re-examined; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23691/22]
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.
Schools who were not satisfied with the outcome following the application of the DEIS identification model to their school enrolment data now have the opportunity to have that outcome reviewed. Circular 0019/2022, outlining the details of the DEIS appeals process, was published on the 30th March 2022? by my Department and is available at www.gov.ie/en/circular/7e7ca-deis-identification-2022-appeals-process-for-schools/. All schools were notified of the appeals process. The school referred to by the Deputy has submitted an appeal which is currently being processed.
When all appeals have been processed, schools will be informed of the outcome in writing by my Department. It is my Department’s intention that schools will be provided with the outcome promptly to allow schools time to plan for the 2022/23 school year.
