Principals of schools in most disadvantaged areas warn of 'dilution' of Deis scheme

'The reality is that these communities and these areas have suffered long-term intergenerational poverty and trauma,' says Philip Fitzgerald, principal at St Joseph's Senior National School in Ballymun. Picture: Moya Nolan

Primary schools in the most deprived parts of the country cannot meet the needs of their students, according to principals, who are calling for an overhaul of the DEIS system of supports for disadvantaged communities. 

The Delivering Equality of Opportunity In Schools (DEIS) scheme now supports approximately 240,000 students — one in four of all students — having been expanded significantly since its introduction in 2005.