I am raising the issue of DEIS plus, which is a new scheme announced to give enhanced supports to the most disadvantaged schools in the country. Obviously, I am all in favour of enhanced supports for schools, but there are a number of problems. I bring to the attention of the Minister of State the Corduff area of Dublin 15. I have been contacted by the principals of St. Patrick's Senior National School and St. Patrick’s Junior National School in the area. They will be in the DEIS band 1 scheme but have been excluded from the DEIS plus scheme. One of the principals, Mary O’Riordan, spoke to The Irish Times about this. For example, she said the area has been beset by a vicious feud involving local rival gangs in recent years. There was absolute devastation at the school when they learned they were not included in the new scheme. She has worked in the area for 26 years. The level of disadvantage is massive, with issues such as addiction, poverty and crime. While I do not know whether crime is a criterion for the scheme, I do know that trauma is a criterion. It is mentioned that up to 50% of children in the schools under the DEIS plus scheme will have experienced trauma. One of the issues in Corduff, which is frequently in the news for all the wrong reasons, is that gangs have historically been located there. The principals of the schools in question say that a lot of parents are doing a brilliant job but that others are struggling. The schools have put additional supports in place. For example, both schools are currently paying a trained counsellor and play therapist to work at each school one day per week, at a cost of €350 per day. They used to pay for four days but they can no longer afford to maintain that level of support. Both schools need a counselling service five days per week. Children often come to school and it is noticed straight away that something has happened to them. The schools want to open nurture rooms but they need to pay staff members to staff such rooms. That is something for which the DEIS plus scheme would provide. It would provide a well-being co-ordinator and extra teaching support. In general, the way this scheme has been implemented is a bit strange. While I am all in favour of the scheme, it seems that a super league is being created whereby schools will nearly have to compete to get on it. As the Minister of States knows, or maybe he does not, Dublin 15 is one of the fastest-growing areas in the country. One in four people there is under 15 years of age. Only one school in Dublin 15 has got onto the DEIS plus scheme. It does not make any sense given the population and social profile of the area. Not one of the 25 secondary schools got on the list, despite having massive diversity. Corduff, Tyrrelstown and Mulhuddart in particular are the fastest-growing areas in the whole of Fingal. Other schools in Blakestown and Mountview, which are currently in the scheme, have also not been included. That seems a bit bizarre. These schools are dealing with the huge and complex social issues of crime and drug addiction that have historically been experienced in the area. In the statistics and data, Corduff is described as very disadvantaged. In the Pobal HP deprivation indices, there is colour coding on maps for the area. Corduff is marked by the strongest orange colour. In fact, it is even more deprived than some other areas that have been included in the scheme.

Sentiment score: -0.09

Obviously, the schools should appeal the decision. Hopefully, they will be brought up to the level of supports needed. There has been a huge problem in this regard. There has been a 500% increase in the number of schools contacting the financial support services unit of the Department because of the rising cost of living. It affects every school. In areas of severe disadvantage, parents do not have the same resources that more middle-class areas have. Are the schools supposed to drop the nurturing and well-being support they are providing because they cannot afford it any longer? I understand the Minister of State is saying they will still get supports from the DEIS scheme. There is one other matter I wish to follow up. The Minister of State mentioned that there is new enhanced data and a way of analysing same. I am all for a scientific approach but the Minister of State said: While these challenges are often well understood locally, they are not always captured in data sets that can be fairly and consistently applied across the entire school system. A rules-based national model must rank all schools on the same basis. It cannot substitute locally held knowledge for data that are not available ... Where do locally held factors that are specific to an area come into it? We hear about the Westies and about gangland crime over the years in Corduff. It has those historical local problems, and that should be considered. On the same day that the schools got the news they would not be included in DEIS plus, five members of a local organised crime group were sentenced to jail over an attack which the judge involved said bypassed any notion of humanity and which involved beating, burning, stabbing and branding their victim with the word "rat". Children in these schools are being groomed into crime. They are not able to learn because they come into school having suffered trauma. Those factors have to be taken into account somewhere in the system.

Sentiment score: -0.04