Paul Murphy: DEIS Plus oversight leaves Tallaght school fighting for support
Paul Murphy welcomes the DEIS Plus scheme but raises concerns about its identification method after St Dominic's National School in Tallaght was excluded and has lodged an appeal. He warns the deprivation index can miss local pockets of severe need and urges the appeals process to account for on-the-ground realities.
Summary of the address
Paul Murphy outlines support for the DEIS Plus expansion of targeted educational support and highlights St Dominic's National School in Tallaght as an example where the scheme's methodology appears to have failed to capture concentrated disadvantage. He stresses that while the school remains a DEIS Urban Band 1 school with supports, the DEIS Plus status would bring additional resources urgently needed by its diverse pupil community.
Why St Dominic's was excluded and local detail
Murphy describes how the deprivation index and the nationally consistent, pupil-led model identify DEIS Plus schools using three years of enrolment data and indicators such as deprivation level, traveller and Roma identity, and residence in emergency or international protection accommodation. He points out that local realities - an IPAS centre, a homeless hub, children in HAP accommodation and high intergenerational educational disadvantage - may not be fully captured by those metrics.
How the appeals process works and limitations
He explains the appeal currently under way for St Dominic's, acknowledges the role of independent technical review, and underlines a procedural limit: appeals rely mainly on updated administrative data (the POD), which can omit children previously enrolled but now registered elsewhere. Outcomes are expected by the end of June 2026, which Murphy says is essential for schools to have clarity for the next academic year.
Broader implications for policy and practice
Murphy calls for consistent, evidence-based criteria applied fairly, while urging the Department to ensure the model captures granular local need. He thanks school leaders and staff for their work and reaffirms engagement with school communities and stakeholders as the Department implements the strategy to 2035.
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Thanks a lot, just apologies from Deputy Crow who supports this issue but can't be here this morning. Obviously I welcome the Dash Plus scheme, it can make a real difference for children in school communities with high levels of educational disadvantage. The extra resources will make a real difference. We're raising a particular issue, and I think there are other issues around the country, around a particular school which is excluded from the current scheme, they have appealed that, and it seems to highlight a flaw in terms of the methodology which is primarily based, as far as I understand, on the deprivation index, but which therefore can miss the kind of level of granularity which means that some schools, the level of deprivation that was reflected in their school community isn't fully captured by that data. So St Dominic's National School in Tala is one such school, one of the largest Dash Band 1 schools in the country, 431 pupils, I think about 50 different nationalities represented. A really fantastic school, a great place for kids to learn, but definitely could do with the extra resources. One very simple example is that in the area served by St Dominic's is a Tala village which wouldn't qualify as an area of particularly high deprivation, but within this area is an IPAS centre and a homeless hub. Obviously multiple children from both these are going there. You have many kids who are in HAP accommodation, in homeless HAP accommodation, kids from lone parent families, high levels of intergenerational educational disadvantage, and the school community is very worried that it certainly wasn't captured at first step and needs to be captured at appeal stage so that they get the Dash Plus status. At the outset I do compliment the way that you work across political divides in terms of education and I will continue to liaise with you and might turn water into iron at every juncture but we certainly will try. I'd like to thank the deputies for raising the important issues addressing education disadvantage and ensuring that every child and young person can achieve their full potential is a key priority for me and for the Minister for Education and Youth. The introduction of the Dash Plus represents the most significant expansion of targeted educational support since the establishment of the Dash programme. The scheme is designed to provide enhanced support to a small cohort of schools with the highest concentration of children and young people experiencing persistent and intergenerational disadvantage. You have raised the issue of St Dominic's National School in Tala and I wish to acknowledge the strong work being undertaken by the Principal and all of the team and the wider school community in supporting pupils and families. It's important to stress that although the school was not identified under the Dash Plus programme, it does not mean that disadvantage is not present within the school community. St Dominic's National School remains a Dash Urban Band 1 school and continues to receive significant range of supports available under the programme including the reduced class sizes, the enhanced staffing supports and the full home school liaison provision. Dash Plus schools were identified using a nationally consistent and evidence based model developed using pupil led administrative data and a range of indicators associated with persistent and intergenerational disadvantage. These indicators include deprivation level, traveller and Roma identity and children residing in state funded emergency accommodation and international protection accommodation. The model examines enrolment data across the previous three academic years to ensure consistency and fairness in its application nationally. I recognise that the local school communities can experience very significant and complex challenges that are deeply felt by pupils, families and staff. However, in establishing a national scheme such as the Dash Plus, it is essential that the same evidence based criteria are applied consistently across all schools to ensure fairness and equality of treatment throughout the education system. The scheme is intentionally highly targeted. Schools that have been included in the scheme have been assessed as having a concentration of disadvantage significantly above the national average and the highest level nationally. While many similar schools clearly serve children and families experiencing disadvantage, the Dash Plus programme has targeted those with the highest concentration of students at risk of education disadvantage. As you will be aware, the appeal process is currently underway for schools that were not satisfied with the outcome following the application of the Dash Plus identification model to their enrolment data. St Dominic's National School has submitted an appeal under the process. I would be very mindful that it is not appropriate for me to comment on the specifics of any individual school appeal while the process remains ongoing. All appeals are being subject to a technical review process in line with the criteria set out by the Department, with independent oversight provided through an independent appeals panel. It is anticipated that the schools will be informed of the outcome of those appeals by the end of June of 2026. The Department and I continue to engage with school communities and education stakeholders regarding the implementation of the strategy to 2035 and the range of supports available to schools serving communities experiencing education disadvantage. We absolutely accept that there needs to be an objective criteria. That is not in doubt. The question is whether you have an objective criteria that captures the reality beyond simply the geographical deprivation index. It is not entirely clear, and I do not think it has been published, exactly what this is the objective criteria. If you are above this, you are in. If you are below this, you are out. The school has appealed, as you have said. There is a limit in the appeals process, as in the only basis in which they could really appeal was to update their so-called pod, the database data about their pupils, and then say that they have done that. They obviously hope that is enough to put them over the line. But there are flaws even there, for example, whereby if they had pupils who were with them two years ago who should be captured, who are now in a different school, they are not technically able to update their address, because they are now registered elsewhere. That is not being captured in the appeal. They do not have a chance to put forward all of these arguments. They have been submitted to you in parliamentary questions in terms of the points about homeless hope and IPAS, and so on. Hopefully, they can be taken into account. I do accept that the engagement by all political representatives in relation to school communities in disadvantaged areas or others are hugely important pieces, because education is a fundamental, it can determine the trajectory of anybody, whether they are disadvantaged or elsewhere, their life's journey. So it is important as well, and I do understand that the deputies have real and genuine engagement within the education sector. St Dominic's, though it was not identified as for inclusion in the DES plus programme, does not diminish in any way the challenges faced by the school communities and the outstanding work done there by the school leadership, and all of the team that are working within the school and are dealing with a disadvantage. Because of the appeal process, you will understand that it is important for me to not comment on that process right now, and I don't intend to. But you make the point, when we were, the DES plus programme and the initiatives and the criteria that was set down very early on was to make sure that we were targeting the most disadvantaged communities across the country, and the resources that we were putting in, because they are significant resources in terms of the DES plus, and indeed the entire DES programme is to ensure that disadvantage is met within the communities. And the criteria has been there. A number of deputies have raised issues in relation to the criteria, but the criteria has been, it is transparent, you mentioned in terms of not reflecting some of the things that are outside of the criteria, but I suppose in the first instance it is important that the appeal process is dealt with and that that decision is brought to conclusion as early as possible. We are hopeful that that decision will be taken by the end of June of 2026, so that schools will have certainty for next year. But I do understand that there is a disadvantage in other communities that haven't been captured, but we are targeting resources in the best possible way.
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