Tipperary town schools DEIS status
Deputy Lowry argues that primary schools in Tipperary town were wrongly excluded from DEIS and cites a report showing high deprivation. The Taoiseach says the Department is working on a revision of DEIS and acknowledges the case for support.
In February 2017, Tipperary town primary schools were overlooked for inclusion in the DEIS programme.
This omission was blatantly wrong. After a determined campaign to highlight the injustice, the Department of Education yielded to pressure and agreed to appoint an inspector to review the circumstances of all five primary schools. After extensive engagement with all relevant stakeholders and a thorough examination of statistics and facts, the inspector filed a comprehensive report. The report concluded that levels of deprivation were extremely high, and that no other town in Ireland of a similar size had as high a level of disadvantage. In response to a glaring deficit in supports, an interim package of resources was agreed by the Department and implemented across the five schools. That package remains in place. However, these schools are awaiting confirmation of full band 1 DEIS status, which, I understand, cannot be granted until the national review of all schools is complete. When will this national review be finalised and published to include the Tipperary schools for full DEIS status?
Comment on this
First, I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I know the Deputy and his county colleagues were extremely disappointed in 2017, when no primary school in Tipperary town attained DEIS status, which on the face of it is difficult to comprehend at one level. The concerns have been made clear in this Chamber regarding the necessity for this provision, given significant levels of social disadvantage and deprivation. I want to acknowledge those concerns and to say that work is under way within the Department. I spoke to the Minister for Education yesterday and she is committed to revising the DEIS programme and to broaden its inclusion. The work on the DEIS identification model is under way and is nearing completion. A detailed analysis of school enrolment data, using the latest data available from the 2016 census, has been carried out by the Department. That work will continue and the Minister is committed to doing it as soon as possible.