Ms Áine Lynch:

We need to look at our history to see why we wanted to provide free education in the first place. I think when we were considering providing free education, both at primary and second levels, we did not think it would take the burden from schools or from parents. We decided to provide free education because we knew it would make society better. The fact that we have accepted that schools and parents prop up the system does not seem to acknowledge the fact that society benefits from an education system, not individual children and families. Obviously children and families benefit from it, as members of society. I think we need to go back and try to understand the principles of why the system of free education was set up in the first place.

Sometimes we need to look at some of the costs, not just as costs but in terms of the thinking on education. We talk a great deal about the cost of school books and workbooks. I have appeared before another Oireachtas committee that was discussing the weight of schoolbags. It is almost accepted that we need all the books to provide an education. We are talking about educating children for a world that we do not know yet. If we keep concentrating on the cost and weight of school books, we could be missing the whole point of education. We need to broaden our perspective when we are looking at the issues, notwithstanding that we need to reduce the burden on schools, parents and children.

On the issue of the surveys, we have not got the data as to whether the last circular was implemented, but we did a survey of parents when the first circular was implemented and we can forward the results of that to the committee secretariat.

Senator Ruane's comments illustrated some of the dynamic that I instanced when I said that parents are not going into the schools to discuss issues because they feel their relationship has already been damaged by the funding relationship they have. There is naming and shaming and unfortunately we all know of those instances. There are also parents who never go to the school and the secret stays at home. I acknowledge the fact that people say their schools know their families and that teachers say that if a parent comes to them, they will help but there are a great many families who do not fit into that and they will not talk to a teacher. They feel vulnerable, the power difference and all the other things that are going on that may mean they will not go in and discuss the issues. The children of these parents are not all in DEIS schools; they are sometimes in schools in the leafy suburbs of south Dublin. We need to ensure the system does not require people to declare their poverty to access education. I hope I have dealt with some of the questions.