Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 April 2026
500. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Education and Youth if all schools under the DEIS Plus scheme will have access to the Junior Certificate school programme for students at risk of leaving school without formal qualifications, given that schools under the scheme have now been identified; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28317/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraAddressing educational disadvantage and ensuring that every child and young person can reach their full potential is a key priority for me as Minister for Education and Youth and for the Government. The new DEIS Plus scheme, which will commence this year, launched as part of the DEIS (Delivering Equality of opportunity In Education Strategy) Strategy to 2035, represents the most significant expansion of targeted supports since the establishment of DEIS.
DEIS Plus is designed to provide enhanced, evidence-based supports to a cohort of 121 schools with the highest concentrations of children and young people at risk of educational disadvantage, identified through a refined data-based model that draws on a range of indicators associated with persistent and intergenerational disadvantage.
This approach ensures that additional resources are directed where they can have the greatest impact and forms a core element of the wider €48 million full-year investment across both the DEIS Strategy and the DEIS Plus scheme. Approximately 30,000 children and young people attending DEIS Plus schools will benefit from these targeted supports.
Schools in the DEIS Plus scheme will receive strengthened, research-informed supports across wellbeing, attendance, engagement, guidance, leadership capacity, community partnerships and access to services, including the introduction of a new positive mental health and wellbeing initiative to support a whole-school approach to student wellbeing.
The Junior Certificate School Programme (JCSP) was introduced in 1996 as a national programme sponsored by the Department of Education and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment. It was aimed at students identified as being at risk of being socially or academically isolated or at risk of early school leaving before the Junior Certificate, then in place, had been achieved.
Since its introduction, JCSP expanded from 32 schools in 1996 to 240 schools in 2010, including almost all post-primary schools participating in DEIS. The JCSP is also offered in Special Schools, Children Detention Schools, Traveller Training Centres and Youth Encounter Projects (YEP).
Of the 25 post-primary schools recently designated as being in the DEIS Plus scheme, 23 were providing the JCSP and continue to do so. Of the current 223 schools within JCSP, 173 are designated DEIS or DEIS Plus and 50 are non-DEIS schools. There are currently 232 DEIS and DEIS Plus post-primary schools in Ireland.
As part of the implementation of the Framework for Junior Cycle (2015), it was agreed to carry out a review of the JCSP and consider the extent to which the needs of students undertaking the JCSP are met through the Junior Cycle. This review is currently ongoing, with the programme closed to new applicants.
Further information on the supports provided under the DEIS Plus scheme can be found at gov.ie/deis.
