Education Schemes
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-12
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Hildegarde Naughton (FG), Galway West

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. Tackling educational disadvantage is a key priority for me as Minister. The DEIS programme is my Department's policy to support schools with high concentrations of students at risk of educational disadvantage. Though DEIS, my Department provides over €180 million in additional resources to almost 1,200 primary and post-primary schools, reaching approximately 260,000 students.
I am also aware that there are students at risk of educational disadvantage in all schools. My Department provides a range of universal supports, including free schoolbooks and access to the National Educational Psychological Service, NEPS, to all schools that support students at risk of educational disadvantage.
The success of the DEIS programme is clear. Schools in the programme have significantly narrowed the outcome gaps with non-DEIS schools. However, for a cohort of schools with the highest concentrations of students experiencing educational disadvantage, a significant gap in educational outcomes remains. Budget 2026 added an additional €16.5 million in 2026, rising to €48 million in 2027, to support the implementation of the new DEIS strategy, and the achievement of the programme for Government commitment to introduce a DEIS plus scheme to support those schools.
I recently met the DEIS plus design advisory group, which has helped to inform the development of the DEIS plus scheme. The group includes principals, home school community liaison officers and school completion programme co-ordinators who work directly with students experiencing high levels of educational disadvantage. I heard first-hand from this group about daily challenges faced by students, such as reliance on school meals - the hot school meals programme is important across the country and is another universal approach from the Government - and the impact of intergenerational trauma. I also heard about what works and how we can build on that through DEIS plus. The new DEIS strategy, including the new DEIS plus scheme, is currently being finalised, which is probably the Deputy's question, and will be published in the coming weeks.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-12/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:02+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-12