Mr. Seamus Mulconry:

I thank the committee for the invitation to the CPSMA to present to it but it would be remiss of me not to say this was an issue for all the primary management bodies. Last April An Foras Pátrúnachta, the Church of Ireland Board of Education, Educate Together, the Muslim Education Board and the National Association of Boards of Management in Special Education, NABMSE, jointly prepared and released a short animation putting forward the arguments for the immediate restoration of the capitation grant to €200, guaranteeing timely payment of the minor works grant and a phased increase in capitation grants to cover the actual core costs of running schools.

Since 2011, almost €110 million has been slashed from the budgets of primary schools due to cuts in the capitation grant, the grant which is supposed to cover the costs of running a school and pay for educational resources. To be fair to the Department, it resisted the cuts as strongly as possible but they were forced through. On average, the grant now only covers 50% of the cost of running a school and hard-pressed parents and local communities are contributing a staggering €46 million a year to keep the lights on, the doors open and the water flowing in schools across the country.

Because of the lack of Government investment, the parents of Ireland's young children are now paying a stealth tax on kids for something that should be free. Article 42.4 of the Constitution states "The State shall provide for free primary education" but it is not doing so. Instead, parents, principals and school boards of management are engaged in a near-ceaseless round of fundraising, bake sales and begging to make ends meet. The cost of underinvestment is not just money. An experienced principal engaged in a major fundraising exercise recently told me it was taking up to 20% of his time. That is time that should be focused on improving teaching and learning in his school. The opportunity cost to the education system is significant but we have no way of calculating the cost to our children.

Even the Government agrees that we are not investing enough in primary education.

The recent chief inspector's report pointed out that expenditure per student has fallen by 15% since 2010, and at primary level is now below the OECD and EU average. Ireland now spends less per pupil than the US, the UK, Belgium, Sweden, the Netherlands, Austria, Finland and Norway. Unlike these countries, Ireland also benefits from a vast volunteer army of boards of management which manage primary schools without pay or expenses. The irony is that school boards, principals and parents are being punished for their commitment and generosity in supporting schools. They take up the slack, so the Government is let off the hook. Why invest when parents will do it instead? Primary schools are now among the best fundraisers in the country, and have done everything from the usual raffles and bake sales to selling scrap steel and organising fundraisers based on the TV programme"The Cube". The only thing we have not seen is a school selling Peckham mineral water, but I am sure after this presentation I will see that.

Last year I heard the Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, telling Mary Wilson on RTÉ's "Drivetime" that his budget had been crafted with primary school children in mind. He said he had been thinking of the boys and girls in primary schools, and had seen the atmosphere they are in, and he wanted them to have the best possible future. Both CPSMA and all the primary management bodies want to see that too. We urge the Minister to turn rhetoric into reality.