Dempsey vows to realign resources
He said resources in the past had been pushed towards the middle classes rather than poorer students but insisted this would change under his tenure in office.
"Unfortunately, that's been a feature of our education system for quite a long time," he said. "It's a fundamental problem in the education system that has to be changed."
His plans are expected to include early intervention at primary school level with greater emphasis on psychological services and guidance counselling in education black spots.
Latest figures also estimate that 19% of students left school without any qualifications this year, most of whom are from poor areas.
The National Youth Council also raised concerns over the education gap and said it was now time to finally tackle the problem.
"With falling numbers going forward to third level, this provides an ideal opportunity to level the playing pitch in education by increasing the numbers of disadvantaged students and students with disabilities in further education," said NYCI President, James Doorley.
Research shows early school leaving marginalises different groups in society, particularly young unskilled men, lone parents and young people in disadvantaged areas or rural areas.
Minister Dempsey said he was concerned that the second level system was not supporting a growing number of students.
This had prompted more and more students in mostly disadvantaged areas to take alternatives such as the National Vocational Qualifications (NVQ) and the Applied Leaving Cert.
"The syllabus needs to be geared towards the needs of the students rather than the other way around," he said.
Previous attempts have been made to tackle the performance gaps between well-off areas and education black spots with mixed success.
In 1998 the then Education Minister Michael Woods announced a "new deal" under which almost £200m was promised to disadvantaged students over a three-year period.
It included funds to be directed at additional teachers, out-of-school activities, homework clubs and community outreach activities.
This year's figures show that while some 42,500 completed the standard Leaving Certificate results, another 12,974 completed the Leaving Certificate Vocational Programme and 3,057 completed the Leaving Certificate Applied.
The vocational programme focuses on technical subjects, while the applied version prepared students for adult and working life rather than third level.
