Ms Áine Lynch:

Regarding Deputy Ó Laoghaire's question on the student and parent charter, as an organisation, we welcome the publishing of the Bill this week, which we sought for many years.

It has potential to change some school culture as there will be more consultation and discussion, along with more work done in partnership with schools. The National Parents Council is concerned about a possible unintended consequence of the charter Bill in that it mentions voluntary contributions within its text. This is the first time voluntary contributions have been put in legislation. We have major concerns about that as it is accepting the fact that voluntary contributions occur. The language was intended to ensure transparency between the school receiving these contributions and those who paid them. The intentions are good but we are really concerned that, for the first time ever, something we are campaigning to eliminate is now mentioned in legislation. We hope that will be changed before the Bill becomes an Act of the Oireachtas.

There is the question of the capitation grant being restored to the levels of 2010 and 2011. We hope that will happen but it will not deal fully with capitation grants issues, as costs have risen since that time and voluntary contributions were requested even before that. With regard to restoring the grants to the level at a particular point, we should be very cautious about asking for something and believing it will address a problem when we are clear that it will not do so because the issue was not addressed in the first place.

In our submission we have tried to not separate the digital issue from the schoolbooks issue. They are linked. We speak about schoolbooks as if they are just needed. We know that at primary level there is one curriculum but if one goes into any school around the country, there are different books. Why is there so much discretion around schoolbooks within the school system when there is one curriculum? I note Senator Gavan's reference to his accent. I have a similar accent and I also grew up with a free schoolbook system. There was much commonality in schoolbooks, the length of time they existed and the cost of those books across the system. We have moved on through many years and now we are in a different position. We do not need to keep saying what books the children need but rather what resources they need.

There is no other area of life where there is so much reliance on a book. I remember in the office 20 years ago we would have bought books but we never do so now. Generally we do not have reference books but we are still discussing who is paying for schoolbooks rather than what is needed for the best education of our children. Digital learning must come into that as digital learning is not just about e-books. We have heard cases where parents have been asked to buy an iPad but when the child comes home from school, a picture of a page in a book has been taken by the camera on the iPad. That is not digital learning but is reflective of schools' constant battle to try to make it more affordable for parents. It is not really grappling with the matter of what resources children need in our current society. I caution against separating books and digital learning as the two issues are very much entwined. It is the reason we are not calling for free books across the board. We must first establish what we need before we can say that the State must spend €20 million on books. Is that what we want the State to spend its money on or should it be spent on something else?

Senator Ruane asked if we need to let the system fall. My gut would incline to answering "Yes" but which parent will decide to let it fall when his or her child is in it? That is the problem. Everybody thinks it needs to fall to get a reaction but there is the question of which generation will let its children suffer. No parent will allow that to happen to his or her child so these parents will pay for the lights and heating to be kept on, as well as all the other things. Their children are in the system.