Educational Disadvantage
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-14
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Jerry Buttimer (FG), Cork South-Central

I thank the Deputy for raising many pertinent points, which I do not disagree with. She is right that it is not just about funding. During my own career, it was not just about funding. This is about that wraparound service and that engagement. It is not just about being able to measure but being able to have students reach their full potential. It is not just about literacy and numeracy. The Deputy mentioned the arts but it is also the socialisation piece and, for example, the hot school meals programme. She is right.
I will make the point that the Government is committed, in a cross-departmental way, to tackling child poverty. We see education as the enabler to achieve that. The development of the DEIS plus scheme will be a further positive step in our commitment to lifting more children out of poverty and giving them the future they deserve. I will take back the points the Deputy made. I genuinely share some of the views she has. We get that because we are on the ground. We are in the classroom and the school community. We are engaging with home school liaisons. I am a former director of adult education and taught the applied leaving certificate. There is also the issue of school completion. It is not just about the funding piece. We cannot say that we will allocate X amount of money and then just throw that at it. That does not always work, as we both know.
The new DEIS strategy to be published this year will set a future roadmap that will support children and young people at risk of educational disadvantage. It is to be hoped it will empower them to reach their full potential. The strategy will focus on improving opportunity and achievement levels for children and young people, but it will also ensure that in the school community we can develop more innovative approaches to tackling educational disadvantage and tackle that intergenerational piece we have to keep working at. The point is, which maybe goes back to what the Deputy is trying to say, it should be a flexible system of supports to ensure the school can receive the right support at the right time for the student, person, pupil or child, whether they are a teenager or primary school student.
I look forward to working with the Deputy on this. The Government is committed to tackling educational disadvantage and reducing child poverty. I thank her for raising the matter.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-14/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:30+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-14