We were told time and again that the identification of DEIS plus schools would be done in a transparent, robust and evidence-based way but the fact that not a single school in Drogheda has found its way into this long-awaited scheme leads me to challenge that assertion. As the Minister of State will know, Drogheda is the largest town in Ireland yet to be declared a city. It is a great place with a great spirit and yet like all urban areas, we have our problems. We have pockets of severe and deep social and economic intergenerational disadvantage. I deal with those challenges every day. This is recognised officially in the Geiran review, which I managed to have commissioned several years ago. What followed was ad hoc short-term additional teaching and support resources. When the Drogheda implementation board's mandate ended, the disadvantage and poverty did not. Schools like St. John's and St. Paul's, St. Patrick's and St. Brigid's would have expected to be included in DEIS plus. St. Joseph's, Sunday's Gate, for example, and others would have expected elevation to DEIS 1 status. Deputy Byrne and I brought all principals of local schools together when the original decision was made to review this appalling decision soon after it was made. To say we were collectively shocked at the outcome is the understatement of the year. That these schools were left behind leads me to question whether the Pobal index and the new DEIS plus identification model were used at all. The Department of education has got this badly wrong. The evidence before my own eyes, based on the work I do every single day, the levels of need and the data and the qualitative and quantitative evidence we have available all say to me that a massive error was made in this regard by the Department. The Minister of State will have the chance to correct that error. We genuinely believe a mistake has been made. While we know there is an appeals process under way, there needs to be more meaningful engagement with these schools aside from a desktop appeals process and review.

Sentiment score: -0.05

I would like to have more time available to discuss this, because I am confounded by that response. Effectively, what the Minister of State is saying is that we have disadvantage but that it is not at the level of concentration required for inclusion in DEIS plus. That is quite extraordinary in light of the data we have available. I will give the Minister of State an example. At least three of the schools serve particular areas. I am going to read out the levels of disadvantage in the context of the HP deprivation index in 2022. One area on the north side had a HP deprivation index of minus 33. There was 27% unemployment among males there and 47% of people in the area were lone parents. On the south side, one area stood at minus 32 on the deprivation index. It had an unemployment rate of 27% and 25% of those in the area were lone parents. All the schools in that area are accommodating children who are in international protection accommodation services, IPAS, centres, many of them coming from the largest IPAS centre in the country, namely the Mosney centre. It is meeting all the thresholds laid down by the new DEIS identification model and the HP model. This is extraordinary. It needs to be reviewed in a meaningful way.

Sentiment score: -0.15