Thomas Byrne
Ceist:372. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will clarify the position of the DEIS programme in view of recent errors being discovered in the DEIS list. [13897/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 21 March 2017
Ceisteanna (372, 373)
Thomas Byrne
Ceist:373. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Education and Skills when the recently-discovered error with the DEIS list was first discovered. [13898/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
I propose to take Questions Nos. 372 and 373 together.
I take it that the Deputy is referring to the recent re-categorisation of 4 DEIS primary schools as between Urban and Rural.
At the outset, it is important to note that the categorisation of a school as between urban or rural is related to its geographical position and is not related to the assessed level of concentrated disadvantage of its pupil cohort.
The categorisation of schools included in the list announced on 13th February as between urban and rural was based on CSO Electoral Division Strata. However, in some cases these Electoral Divisions are very large and, in a small number of cases, make borderline decisions on a school's designation more difficult. While the schools involved were correctly designated in terms of the ED boundaries, closer consideration of their designation suggested certain anomalies in terms of their urban/rural categorisation and a requirement for further examination.
Following further examination and external technical advice, my Department has decided to use an alternative boundary classification known as “settlements” which better take into account growth in population and the expansion of urban areas over time. Settlements with a population of 1,500 or more are classified as urban, while those with a population of less than 1,500 are classified as rural. My Department is satisfied that this UN-recognised designation is the most appropriate method of categorising schools as between urban and rural.
As with all aspects of the new DEIS identification process, this aspect of school categorisation will be kept under review and updated as and when improved data becomes available.
I wish to assure the Deputy that all new schools included in the DEIS Programme on February 13th last have been examined in the context of this new classification criteria and the four schools affected have been contacted by my Department of the change required.