Ms Audrey Deane:

We will closely echo what Mr. Finlay has said because we work very closely with Barnardos and the National Parents Council - both primary and post-primary. I will start with some terribly stark statistics. It will come as no surprise to anyone in this room to discover that a quarter of all children in the country come from a household that does not have a job. Half of families rely either on a social welfare payment or low-paid work with consequences for children growing up with that degree of deprivation, exclusion and needs - as opposed to wants. Unfortunately we have the old reliable statistic of one in ten children living in severe poverty, which is basic deprivation. That is tough on the children and when they go to school it becomes compounded.

I am pleased to appear before this joint committee because as we said to the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Burton, since 2009 some €450 million has been taken out of child income-support payments and we in the Society of St. Vincent de Paul through our 10,500 members are very concerned. We witness on a daily basis what that does to a family with the erosion of hope, the degree of insecurity, stress, anxiety, hardship and the constant "No". We are talking about little ongoing costs of participation in school. For us this is not just a back-to-school issue, this is an all-year-round issue, involving things like the cheque for the swimming or the football boots. While participation on the GAA field can be the cheapest of all hobbies to get them out and about, a child cannot get near it without the kit, mouth-guard etc. - a child might end up looking like the Michelin man at the end of it all in order to get out there and play and be like everybody else. This applies to curricular activities. Swimming is on the national primary curriculum, but must be paid for. Children whose parents cannot pay end up stuck in another class while their mates go off and have a bit of craic on those days.

We are talking about exclusion and a deeply divisive commoditised education system in this country. I am sure members have read the survey from two days ago, which informed us - we did not need to hear it, but it is good to have evidence - that those from private schools do better because their parents can afford to buy commoditised privilege of educational resources.

Members may read our submissions which are all very similar and will drive home the same message that for many parents and households the cumulative reductions in social welfare supports and schemes and the continued cost of education are just too much for people to bear. I will not read out my submission which contains nice colourful pie charts indicating what our members shell out to people for schoolbooks and uniforms. This is keeping families afloat and we are very concerned about it. Our organisations have been at the forefront of trying to create solutions to this problem. We are looking to our elected Members to find ways of doing the job better - doing the right job the right way. As Mr. Finlay has said, we want parents to be partners. I have many copies in my bag if members want them. I would be quite happy to distribute them.