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

I move:

That Dáil Éireann: recognises that:

— the costs of returning to school each year cause enormous financial stress and pressure on parents, a fact likely to be exacerbated by the rising cost-of-living crisis;

— according to a survey undertaken by the Irish League of Credit Unions in 2021, 63 per cent of parents found covering back-to-school costs a significant financial burden, with 24 per cent of families getting into debt, and 21 per cent of families having debts of over €500;

— according to the same survey, the average cost of sending a child to primary school is now €1,186, and €1,491 for a secondary school child; and

— a Barnardos survey in 2021 found that 50 per cent of parents said they were concerned about the cost of returning to school, and that 20 per cent of parents take out some form of loan to pay for school costs;

notes that:

— primary and post primary education in this State is intended to be "free" under the Constitution and in legislation, but that the reality is profoundly different;

— the cost-of-living crisis continues to mount, with almost two thirds of parents saying they and their children had to go without essentials over the past six months due to cost of living increases, and 28 per cent having cut back or gone without heating;

— despite the fact that back-to-school costs have continued to increase in recent years, the Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance (BTSCFA) is lower now than it was in 2007;

— primary and secondary schools remain profoundly underfunded, leading schools to request "voluntary contributions" and to fundraise simply to pay basic and essential bills, and that this situation is likely to be worse this year due to increased energy costs;

— this State is 75 years behind the North in introducing free school books, where it was introduced in 1947; and

— the complete failure of the Minister for Education, Norma Foley, and the Minister of State, Josepha Madigan, to take any concrete action to tackle these costs within their Department; and

therefore, calls on the Government to:

— give the BTSCFA to middle income families by extending it to 500,000 additional children;

— increase the BTSCFA by 50 per cent for those who already qualify;

— work towards abolishing voluntary contributions, by implementing the Education (Voluntary Contributions) Bill 2021, proposed by Sinn Féin, and by increasing capitation funding to schools;

— deliver a fully free school book scheme for all children, through increases in funding, to rapidly expand the availability of book rental schemes over a number of budgets;

— enact, without delay, the Education (Affordable School Uniforms) Bill introduced by Sinn Féin, to ensure all schools have a uniform policy that reduces costs for families; and

— eliminate fees on the school transport scheme, beginning with a 20 per cent reduction next year, and provide seats for an additional 10,000 children.

As the Minister knows, back-to-school costs are an enormous pressure on families in any year and one often hears organisations such as Barnardos, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and the Irish League of Credit Unions, as well as community welfare officers, talk about the enormously increased rate of calls they get from families who are really struggling. That has been true the last few years but is doubly true this year. We have a cost-of-living crisis that sees rents spiralling out of control, childcare costs like a second mortgage and food, fuel and electricity costs increasing. On top of that, this year schools which are themselves under financial pressure will pass on some of those costs to families. This week, last week and the week before the booklists, uniform lists and letters for voluntary contributions started coming in. The scale of this can be considerable. Many schools do their best to minimise the costs but if you have a child in primary school and two children in secondary schools, you could well be paying €1,500. I spoke to one mother in Cork last week, referred to by Deputy Doherty in Leaders' Questions last week, who faces costs of €1,600, about €500 or €600 of which was in voluntary contributions. That is enough to put any family under severe pressure and leave them questions about how they will pay the next bill and if they will go to the moneylender or credit union. These are hard decisions. Summer is supposed to be a time of respite and a break, particularly after the past two years, but can be a time of immense hardship. I received an email from a woman in Dublin recently:

This time of year is so so stressful and worse than I've ever felt. I have an empty fridge, no heat, no car tax because I can’t afford the arrears which just keep mounting up. I have been onto SVP a few times for help... My eldest is going into transition year. The school asked for an additional €100 to the standard registration fee for 4th year. I have no idea how I am going to afford anything this year when I can barely make ends meet. Every 2 weeks my mortgage is paid when my social welfare goes in leaving me with €50 for the week.

That is the reality for many families and not just at the lowest incomes but right into middle-income families and cutting across the State. That is the reality we are contending with. It has been Sinn Féin's position in recent days and weeks in launching our proposals that this could not wait until September. These costs will have come and gone. The Government's position until about two hours ago was this had to wait until the budget. I am sure it is not by coincidence or quirk of calendar that the Minister has announced a set of proposals today. I am glad the Government has started to listen and realised that it would not be fair or equitable to ask parents to wait until September for assistance when these costs are arising this week, next week and over the coming weeks. It will force people to make very difficult decisions.

I welcome that the Government has taken on several of Sinn Féin's proposals. We have been keen to ensure those on the lowest incomes get additional help. The problem is there are many people who will not benefit from this. The other part of Sinn Féin's proposals was ensuring that those who do not get any assistance would get some. Under the Minister's proposal, if you have one child in school and a weekly income of €621 you will not qualify for back-to-school allowance. That is not a big income. That is lower than the average industrial wage. For all those families that are really struggling now and do not qualify, I am afraid the proposals do not address that, particularly if they do not avail of school transport.

The Government has started to listen at last and is not saying September any longer. That was a ludicrous and unfair position in any event, and equally so outside of this debate. The Minister needs to start listening to families who do not qualify. They are under severe pressure and will be making decisions about bills, moneylenders, credit unions and all the rest of it. I urge the Minister to implement what she has brought forward today. I welcome it and it will help. Those families looking on, watching the news and saying it might help them will find out in a week or two that they are not getting anything. The Minister needs to do something about them.

Between now and September, I urge the Minister to go back to those talks with the Ministers, Deputies Michael McGrath and Humphreys, the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and whoever and find a way to offer assistance to those families on €621 per week who do not get anything. They could be facing bills of over €1,000. That is not good enough. We need more help for them. I welcome what the Minister has taken on board from the Sinn Féin proposals and ask her to look at the remainder and give some assistance to those who are really struggling and do not qualify.

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