Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We need to have a frank conversation about this. Parents are really struggling every single year when they are bringing their kids to school. What we are seeing now, and what we have seen from the report of the Irish League of Credit Unions this week, is that parents are spending approximately €1,400 per secondary school child and over €1,000 per primary school child. As for the real-life impact this has on parents, nearly half of them are really struggling to manage the costs; almost a quarter of them are trying to earn additional income; and in excess of 60% of parents said that covering the costs of their children going back to school is a financial burden.

There is the parents' side of things and then we also have the side of the schools. We hear repeatedly from schools in our local areas that they are really struggling on the allocation of grants from the Government. Many of the schools are saying the grants are not really enough to keep the lights on, let alone heat the place. We need to think about that. I look forward to looking at the budget coming forward in the next few months. I really hope we can put a massive focus on this area so that we can relieve the burden on schools and parents.

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