Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 April 2026
554. Deputy James Geoghegan asked the Minister for Education and Youth the way the criteria for selecting schools for inclusion in the DEIS urban and rural schemes have changed since its introduction and differ from the programmes which preceded them; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30093/26]
View answerThe DEIS programme is the department’s key policy initiative to tackle concentrated educational disadvantage at school level. It provides a targeted range of additional supports to schools serving the highest concentrations of children and young people at risk of educational disadvantage.
The criteria for identifying schools for inclusion in DEIS have developed over time. Earlier programmes addressing educational disadvantage operated through a number of separate supports and schemes. The DEIS programme, introduced in 2005, brought those supports together into a more integrated national framework, with differentiated supports for schools, including DEIS Urban Band 1, DEIS Urban Band 2, DEIS Rural and DEIS post-primary schools.
The current approach is based on an objective, data-based identification model. The refined DEIS identification model uses information from department enrolment databases and the Pobal HP Deprivation Index. The model was refined to take account of a broader range and severity of disadvantage, including borderline disadvantaged areas and weighted categories of disadvantage.
Schools were not required to apply for inclusion in the most recent expansion of the DEIS programme. The refined model was applied fairly and equally to all schools. In 2022, the programme was extended to additional schools and a number of existing DEIS schools were reclassified. An appeals process was also provided at the time.
The Minister recently launched the new DEIS Strategy to 2035 and the DEIS Plus scheme. DEIS Plus represents a further development of the department’s approach and is designed to provide enhanced, evidence-based supports to schools with the highest concentrations of children and young people experiencing educational disadvantage. The department has also published a DEIS Plus Identification Model technical paper on its website, setting out the basis for that model.
The Department will continue to keep the operation of DEIS and DEIS Plus under review to ensure that supports are targeted where they are most needed and that schools receive the right support at the right time.
