Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Ó Ríordáin and the Minister for their contributions and I appreciate the former's support for the Bill.

The Minister's speech would have been fine save for the part where she stated that the Bill's primary objective was to provide greater clarity and transparency. Of course, it is not. That is just one relatively marginal part of the Bill. We want greater transparency. We also want a prohibition - this was not addressed by the Minister and is not addressed in the student and parent charter Bill - on children being treated differently while voluntary contributions remain in place. However, the primary objective of the Bill is not transparency. That part is only about addressing a reality that we must deal with until we can get rid of it. The primary objective of the Bill, which the Minister has not really referred to, is to fill the funding gap in our schools that require them to seek voluntary contributions. That is what this legislation is about - schools being underfunded and parents and children suffering because they are being asked to make voluntary contributions on account of that. The Minister has not addressed this in either of her contributions. She has not signalled any view that voluntary contributions are undesirable, any objective of increasing capitation to ensure that the funding gap is closed or any desire to find out what the funding gap even is. She has not signalled that she ever intends to bring an end to the need for voluntary contributions or to their existence itself.

The Bill's primary objective is not even slightly addressed in the student and parent charter Bill. Even the elements that the Minister referenced are scarcely addressed by it. Nor is the issue of the unequal treatment of those children whom Deputy O Ríordáin and I have instanced, who are denied a diary or locker, who are denied access to extracurricular activity, the shame that goes with that and the disengagement from and avoidance of teachers and the school, with children almost scurrying away from the school gate. None of that is addressed in that other Bill.

There is no statement from the Department saying that it will ever properly fund schools. Every month or two in every school, a bill lands from SSE Airtricity or some other provider for heat and light. The Department does not meet the full amount of that bill. The shortfall is made up by John Cotter, Eileen Murphy and whoever else we care to think of from the local community, but the Minister is not proposing to do anything about that. This summer, parents will spend €1,000 or €1,500 on sending all of their children back to school, yet the Minister is not proposing to give them any relief from any direction. There will be nothing on books, nothing on uniforms and nothing on voluntary contributions. There will be nothing at all from the Minister or any other member of the Government to relieve that burden.

I appeal to the Minister. We are still in March and the budgetary negotiations will happen over the summer, so I hope that she will remember this debate. This does not just have to do with her, of course. It also has to do with the Minister for Social Protection and other Ministers. I hope that the Minister, Deputy Foley, will have a discussion with her colleagues – the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Michael McGrath, and the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys – on trying to arrange some relief.

I hope she will bear in mind not only what I have said but the testimonies she will have seen and read from Barnardos, the Irish League of Credit Unions and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. I am sure the Minister can think of instances from the school in which she taught in her teaching days. I hope she will remember that in her budgetary discussions. I hope this is not the end of this debate for this year and that we can address some of the burden on parents.

The Education (Student and Parent Charter) Bill 2019 very clearly does not address any of these issues, but it can. I hope that following this debate the Minister will discuss with her officials whether some of the provisions of this Bill can be included as amendments in the Education (Student and Parent Charter) Bill 2019. I will be tabling amendments which will not be out of order. There are all sorts of ways amendments can be ruled out of order. I hope the Department will take it on board and table some of those amendments.

The Department of Education does many good things. I readily acknowledge that. I welcomed yesterday's announcement, albeit that I was not thrilled with the way it was handled in advance. DEIS is a fantastic programme. It will do wonderful things for those schools that get it. For many schools in my constituency and across the country from Kerry to Donegal to Wexford and so on it will do marvellous things. I know a lot of work went into devising that very complex model. I might disagree with certain elements of it and there might be areas in respect of which things can be overlooked, but I know a lot of work went into it. The Minister and I differed in regard to some issues around the protection of schools, but I know a lot of work and money went into supporting schools during Covid as well. It is beyond dispute that our schools are underfunded. Schools would not be seeking voluntary contributions if they were properly funded. I will draw a distinction between the voluntary contributions and bona fide fundraising. Perhaps when the Department does confront this issue that is something we can tease out. I do not have a problem with schools and parents fundraising for a school trip to France or new sports equipment and so on. There are areas that schools can legitimately fund-raise for that do not necessarily impinge on the operation of parents' associations, schools and principals in their ability. The basic running of the school should not be supported by fundraising or voluntary contributions. That should be done in full by the Department of Education.

Tá súil agam go ndéanfaidh an tAire smaoineamh air seo. I gceann naoi mí b’fhéidir go mbeidh deis eile againn labhairt faoi seo ach ní hé seo deireadh an scéil. Tá deis ag an Aire smaoineamh air seo arís i gcomhthéacs cainteanna an bhuiséid, i gcomhthéacs an Bhille seo nuair a thagann sé ar ais, agus i gcomhthéacs an Bhille a rinne sí trácht air maidir le cearta tuismitheoirí agus scoláirí. D’fhéadfaí leasuithe a dhéanamh ar an mBille sin mar níl aon cheist ann nach ndéileálann an Bille faoi mar atá leis an ábhar seo ar chor ar bith. Ní dhéanfaidh sé aon rud do thuismitheoirí atá faoi bhrú ó thaobh airgid agus ní dhéanfaidh sé aon rud chun déileáil leis an easpa maoinithe atá ar fáil do scoileanna ó thaobh caipitíochta de. Caithfear déileáil leis sin agus tá súil agam go smaoineoidh an tAire air sin arís. Caithfimid roinnt relief a thabhairt do theaghlaigh an samhradh seo. Caithfimid gníomh a dhéanamh ó thaobh leabhar, cultacha scoile agus fordheontais mar cuireann na rudaí seo brú millteanach ar dhaoine. Is fíor le rá go bhfuil na costais seo millteanach agus go gcuireann siad tuismitheoirí i dtreo daoine atá ag déanamh cíos ar airgead ar bhonn mídhleathach, agus gach baol a bhaineann leis sin. Tá sé contúirteach agus cuireann sé daoine i dtreo bochtanais.

It is undoubtedly the case that parents find themselves under very severe pressure in the summer. Twenty-one per cent of families have debts of over €500. I would say a proportion of them have very significantly more than that in debt. In many instances, parents are spending over €1,000 and many are going to illegal moneylenders. The State should not be forcing parents who are just doing their best to go to illegal moneylenders to ensure they have enough for the return of their children to school. The State should be paying for their children's books and it should ensure that schools are properly funded so that they do not have to be sending begging letters to parents and families.

The debate is as it is. I will oppose the amendment. As we leave here, I hope that we can return to this issue, that the Department will reconsider the approach it has taken and that the Government can reconsider the approach it has taken and give some relief to these workers and families at a time of a cost of living crisis when they are going to be asked for hundreds, if not over €1,000, to pay for their child's basic education.

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