Mr. Jim Moore:

I echo Ms Lynch’s sentiments about the voluntary contributions. There is no such thing as a school that does not get a contribution from a parent in some shape or form. In our experience many schools do quite well in managing the parent who is not in a position to meet those demands. Underpinning all of these discussions is an effective school community which will survive only when parents, staff and management work together. That is utopian from the point of view of trying to achieve certain things in the short term but much good work is going on. One of the difficulties for us is promoting what is good practice, making sure that parents are not isolated because of their inability to pay the subscription for which they are asked. We all agree that no subscription should be required. The isolation of parents is a particularly serious problem because in every other aspect of education we are asking for more parental engagement. A chief inspector's report, which was commented on recently, referred to parents' associations communicating with parents, and boards of management communicating down to parents' associations. That is where there is a big gap. How do you overcome that? We are a national body, primary and post-primary, trying to get parents to engage and we are being presented with obstacles that will create a greater divide if we are not careful. That is very important.

Voluntary subscriptions - the level of them, what they are spent on, transparency, etc - are a huge problem. We would welcome the minimisation of that activity but we also want to acknowledge what is going on. It is very important for parents to be involved in the financing of schools. All too often we find the parents' associations being treated as fund raisers. We are trying to change the culture to one of effective school communities. For example, post-primary schools are not included in the last budgetary recommendation for the book rental scheme. The argument will be made that there is to be a new junior cycle, but we need to plan for that. We need to make sure the transition to a new structure is effective. That will be a serious problem because there is a momentum to get this in place but do we have the wheels under the wagon to make sure it is delivered in every school?

The schoolbook rental scheme does exist in post-primary schools. In some schools it survives only as far as junior cycle. Some schools are very effective and apply it up to senior cycle. We have had presentations from schools around the country that are prepared to show other parents' associations how well they can operate. One school in particular has more than 800 students and the school management delivers a book rental scheme to each student. Parents go to the school with their children in August to set this up and to make it work. There is good practice but parents need to be empowered and equipped for that.

Senator Jim D’Arcy made an interesting comment about lost property and school uniforms. There is a lost property department in every school. I attended a school parents' association meeting last March and the parents asked the principal where was the lost property department. They were then shown all the jumpers and jackets that were kept there. They took them home, washed them and came back in and displayed them in the school for a day. In some cases, students suddenly discovered where they had left their jumpers and there was a group of parents who were delighted to avail of the unclaimed good quality clothing.

This was a small activity which had a significant impact on the school environment. The pressure on parents is isolating a great number who will not come forward to parents' associations because it will mean getting involved in this type of struggle which they also have to deal with in their own homes. We cannot let this run forever. We need to be careful and aware of the pressure on parents.