Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 14 May 2026
298. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Education and Youth to explain comprehensively the rationale of the decision to omit one school out of a cluster of eight local schools, from the extension of HSCL provision (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35856/26]
Amharc ar fhreagra316. Deputy Shane Moynihan asked the Minister for Education and Youth the reason a school (details supplied) was not allocated a Home School Community Liaison (HSCL) coordinator in the most recent announcement; the criteria used in determining HSCL allocations; and whether consideration will be given to including the school in future allocations. [36427/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 298 and 316 together.
Addressing educational disadvantage in all schools is a key priority for me as Minister for Education and Youth. I was pleased to recently announce a pilot project to extend Home-School-Community-Liaison (HSCL) provision to 130 schools that are in the DEIS Rural band and outside the DEIS programme. This is an important opportunity to trial the extension of an important resource to additional schools and inform the future policy for the scheme.
The HSCL scheme is a core element of the DEIS programme and of the wider Tusla Education Support Service (TESS). HSCL coordinators are teachers assigned for a maximum of five years to work directly with parents, guardians, school staff and community services to strengthen engagement between home, school and the community. The overarching aim of HSCL is to improve attendance, participation and retention, particularly for children and young experiencing educational disadvantage.
Schools in the DEIS Urban and DEIS Post-primary bands are currently included in the HSCL scheme. However, I am aware that there are children and young people at risk of education disadvantage enrolled in Rural DEIS schools and schools not currently in the DEIS programme. The OECD’s Review of Resourcing Schools to Address Educational Disadvantage in Ireland found that schools not in the DEIS programme, in particular, may not have the capacity to engage effectively with families of children at risk of educational disadvantage and recommended the extension of partial DEIS supports to schools that are not in the programme. The Programme for Government also commits to expanding HSCL to schools demonstrating high need.
Schools included in the HSCL pilot project at this time are:
• DEIS Rural primary schools and urban primary schools not included in the DEIS programme that have the highest concentrations of children and young people at risk of educational disadvantage
• DEIS Rural primary schools and primary schools not included in the DEIS programme that have the highest proportions of children and young people from other countries and cultures
• Post-primary schools not included in the DEIS programme that have the highest concentrations of children and young people at risk of educational disadvantage and those with the highest proportions of children and young people from other countries and cultures
Other factors including operational clustering feasibility and regional capacity requirements were considered to ensure that the pilot project could be implemented at this time.
This pilot is provided in addition to the range of universal supports available to all schools to support children and young people at risk of educational disadvantage. These include:
• National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) provides educational psychological service to all primary and post-primary schools and special schools to support the well-being, academic, social and emotional development of all learners.
• The Special Education Teaching (SET) allocation provides a unified allocation for special education support teaching needs to each school based on each school’s educational profile and also encompasses an element of English as an additional language (EAL) support allocation. Under this SET model, schools are frontloaded with resources to provide support immediately to those pupils who need it without delay.
• Free schoolbooks are provided to all children and young people in the free education system.
• Inspectorate support helps improve education provision for all children and young people. They promote best practice and school improvement by advising teachers, principals and boards of management in schools.
• Through the Department of Social Protection, the School Meals Programme provides regular, nutritious food to children to support them in taking full advantage of the education provided to them. The Hot School Meals Programme is available to all primary schools, meaning that approximately 3,700 schools and organisations and 682,000 children are now eligible for the Schools Meals Programme.
The pilot project to extend HSCL provision to a selection of DEIS Rural schools and schools outside of the DEIS programme will be monitored and evaluated to inform future planning. Any future allocation of resources, including any potential further extension of the pilot, will be considered over the lifetime of the DEIS Strategy to 2035 and in the context of available resources.
