St Fintans N S

The facts

What DEIS means here

DEIS Urban Band 1. This is the most intensively supported band. Junior classes are capped at 17:1, vertical schools at 19:1 and senior schools at 21:1 — smaller than almost any non-DEIS school in the country.

17:1 junior class size cap. Urban Band 1 primary schools have the lowest pupil-teacher ratio in Ireland: 17:1 in junior classes (infants to 2nd), 19:1 in vertical schools, and 21:1 in senior schools. That is smaller than almost any fee-paying school in the State.

Worth knowing: several things people associate with DEIS are now available in every school. Schoolbooks are free at primary and post-primary regardless of DEIS status, and since 2025 all primary schools are eligible for the hot school meals programme. What remains specific to DEIS is the staffing — reduced class sizes in Urban Band 1, the Home School Community Liaison coordinator, School Completion Programme access and enhanced capitation.

Band as published in the Department's DEIS list, last revised 2022-10-12.

What DEIS is, band by band, HEAR college entry, and whether it says anything about how good a school is →

Special classes

2 special classes sanctioned for 26/27:

• 2 × Autism/Autistic Spectrum Disorders

Source: National Council for Special Education. Children in a special class travel under a separate transport scheme with its own rules.

The area around this school

School planning area: Mountrath. This is how the Department plans where to build capacity. It is not a catchment.

Local house prices: the median residential sale price in Eircode district R32 (Portlaoise) was €320,000 in 2025. That is up 77.8% since 2020. CSO figures for the whole district, not the streets beside the school.

Area profile: the Pobal HP Deprivation Index rates Mountrath at -10.94 (Disadvantaged), where 0 is the national average. 27% of adults there hold a third-level qualification.

Contact

Other schools in Mountrath

• Camross N S Primary school, Laois
• Castletown N.S Primary school, Laois
• Cill An Iubhair N S Primary school, Laois
• Cluain Eidhneach N S Primary school, Laois
• Mountrath Community School Secondary school, Laois
• Paddock N S Primary school, Laois
• Rushall N S Primary school, Laois
• Scoil Bhride Primary school, Laois
• Trummera N S Primary school, Laois