Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Government believes and is clear that a rise in the cost of living should never be a barrier to education. The Deputy will be aware that as part of the cost-of-living measures announced in budget 2023, the Government provided an additional €90 million to schools as once-off additional capitation funding. This investment, in addition to a range of other funds being made available to schools, sought to ensure that any increased operational costs for schools were not passed on to parents. In the context of the current cost-of-living crisis and the additional funding being made available to schools, I firmly believe that schools should not seek additional voluntary contributions from parents.

All recognised primary and post-primary schools in the free education scheme benefited from this additional capitation funding in December 2022, which represents an increase of circa 40% of current capitation rates. The programme for Government contains a number of measures to help families address the cost of education. The standard rates of the capitation grant have increased by 7.5% in recent years. The standard rate of capitation for primary schools is now €183 per pupil and it is €316 per pupil in post primary schools.

The Government has introduced a new scheme to provide free schoolbooks to children and young people enrolled in recognised primary schools, including special schools, which will greatly reduce the burden on these families and reflects the importance that the Government places on education. This scheme will ensure that parents and guardians of children in primary schools will not be asked to buy or rent any schoolbooks, workbooks or copy books in autumn 2023. In excess of 558,000 pupils enrolled in approximately 3,230 primary schools, including more than 130 special schools, will benefit from the scheme. This funding will also provide schools with an administrative support grant to assist with the roll-out of the programme.

The programme for Government also contains a commitment to enable the Education (Student and Parent Charter) Bill 2019. The overall aim of the Bill is to improve the level of engagement in the school community by inviting feedback, comment and observation from students and parents and by further developing a listening culture in our schools. One of the key concepts of the Bill is the need for a school to consult students and parents on individual school plans, policies and activities. This approach will help ensure that the various views of students and parents are heard in schools.

The Bill also provides for schools to provide information to students and parents regarding voluntary contributions and how they are spent. While voluntary contributions can be requested by schools, it must be made absolutely clear to parents that there is no requirement to pay, and that, in making a contribution, they are doing so of their own choice. There is no compulsion to pay.

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