It is like being in a meeting in Cork North-West. I am delighted to see how professional an operation it is. I am delighted to be serving with the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach as well. Deputy Heneghan raised the issue in relation to disadvantage in the north-east inner city. I thank the Deputy for his engagement on education matters in the role that I hold at the moment. I urge all Deputies and all public representatives to continue engaging on education because it is hugely important for the future of our country. Education has served Ireland very well over the last decades and beyond and we need to ensure that we are really up to speed with it. The DEIS programme supports 1,200 primary and post-primary schools, reaching approximately 260,000 students with an annual investment of €180 million. The DEIS programme is targeted at schools with the highest level of concentrated disadvantage, with the DEIS urban band 1 schools representing those with the highest concentration of students with the greatest level of need and therefore receiving the most intensive supports. Schools with DEIS urban band 2 supports also face significant need and receive a broad range of supports, including the reduced pupil-teacher ratio, additional school grants, access to the home-school community liaison scheme and the school completion programme, literacy and numeracy initiatives and targeted attendance and retention measures. It is possible for two neighbouring schools to have different profiles in terms of the proportion of students from disadvantaged backgrounds and the relative weighting of disadvantage apportioned in each. The designation of neighbouring schools to different DEIS status does not mean that there is no educational disadvantage present in one school. It means that the concentrated level of educational disadvantage of the two schools is different. The Minister, Deputy Naughton, is committed to narrowing the performance gap between DEIS and non-DEIS schools and introducing an innovative solution to address disadvantage. To this end, the new DEIS strategy to 2035 will be published in the coming months. This will focus on improving the opportunities and achievement levels of children at risk of education disadvantage, developing more innovative approaches to tackling education disadvantage and working towards a more flexible system of support to ensure that a school can receive the right supports at the right time. Any future changes to the overall allocation of resources to schools under the DEIS programme will be considered within the context of the new DEIS strategy. In respect of the education provisions, the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, works with schools to ensure pupils in special classes receive an appropriate education, with teachers, SNAs and inclusion supports. In relation to support provided in the north-east inner city project, it should be noted that in order to be classified as a north-east inner city primary school, the primary school must be a DEIS urban band 1 school located within the north-east inner city boundaries. St. Joseph's Primary School in Fairview is not located within the boundaries and does not have the DEIS urban band 1 status. Ten primary schools located within the north-east inner city with DEIS band 1 status, in addition to having the high percentage of pupils enrolled within the north-east inner city, are classified as such schools. It is important to recognise the challenges outlined by the Deputy and to compliment the team working there. I have no doubt that they are doing extraordinary work, particularly in relation to the challenges the Deputy outlined. We will be publishing the new DEIS strategy in the coming months but issues like that will have to be fed into that process as well.

Sentiment score: 0.28

I thank the Deputy for the question and the energy he has put into it. The DEIS programme has been hugely successful right across the country, both in urban and rural Ireland, to ensure that we are tackling disadvantage at its core. Retaining students within the education system is a huge priority for the Government. It is huge for Government policy and for my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Hildegarde Naughton, and me as well. We are acutely aware of the challenges that exist. The DEIS programme has shown up the challenges. On a number of occasions, we have seen that schools which are practically on the same campuses and have pupils from the same socio-economic backgrounds are classified in different strands. The system to designate DEIS schools is completely automated. This has been looked at very carefully but, as we go into the new DEIS programme, I and the current and former Ministers, Deputies Naughton, McEntee and Foley, as well as Department officials, are acutely aware of this anomaly that is showing up within the system. One thing we need to do is to make sure that we are tackling disadvantage at its core and that we are not leaving anybody behind. Education is one of the great levellers and one of the great enablers. We want to ensure we get it right in the inner city and right across the country. The Deputy could no be more direct in the picture he paints of this issue. It is something the Department is giving serious consideration to in the context of the DEIS strategy, which we are committed to publishing in the coming months. We will certainly take on board what the Deputy has said in relation to it.

Sentiment score: 0.29