Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank all of our witnesses for being here today. School costs is a huge issue for parents, particularly families on limited incomes. That the Society of St. Vincent de Paul received 250 to 300 calls per day about it in the week before schools reopened shows what a huge issue it is.

It is ironic that the focus of our discussion today is finance. Ms Lynch is correct that the relationship between a family and a school should be educational rather than financial. As mentioned by some of my colleagues, the issue of a parent being afraid to engage with a school because he or she has a financial difficulty needs to be addressed. As a committee, we need to make strong recommendations on the cost of schoolbooks. As mentioned by the Chairman, this committee previously made recommendations in regard to uniforms.

While we have some information from the submissions provided today and from other work carried out in this area by various parties, we need additional information regarding the cost of books. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul has indicated the need for a €20 million investment in primary education and another figure of €40 million was also mentioned. Is that an investment of €20 million for primary and of €20 million for post-primary? The submission from Barnardos also provides information on costs in respect of which we need clarity. It is important we have up-to-date statistics to assist us in making recommendations around funding in the context of the upcoming budget. As everybody here will be aware, there are many other issues on which attention is being focused in the context of funding and the upcoming budget. Education is so crucial that we must ensure it is not left to the side. The Barnardos submission also provides a graph showing that in the case of primary school costs, 8% of parents borrow to meet those costs. In the case of post-primary, it is 14%. These are very high percentages of families who are repaying borrowed money, particularly if they have borrowed from moneylenders. I would welcome a comment on that issue.

Everybody who presented talked about and provided specific information on digital devices and their cost. Everybody has recommended that a study be undertaken of the benefits of digital devices educationally and socially and how we should go about weighing up the advantages versus disadvantages of them in terms of financial pressures. We live in a digital world and we have to embrace it. I would welcome comments from the witnesses on what we should be recommending in that regard. As I said, everybody has recommended a study or a review. It is important that such a study or review would not drag on for years because this is an issue for parents now. I would welcome as much information as possible on what we should be recommending in our report.

Has there been any reduction in the use of non-reusable workbooks? This has always been an issue because once students write in a workbook, they cannot pass it on to a younger brother or sister. Over the years there have been recommendations on this and I am wondering if anyone knows if there has been a reduction in their use or a move away from that kind of cost to families.