Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

I will go back to what this is costing hard-working families. People are very smart and they know they have been charged an additional €500 this year compared to the fees they paid last year. The Minister said the Government reduced the fees last year. It contested the election on reducing them further, but then increased them. That is what happened.

There is a myth in Ireland that, as the Minister said, we have free fees and education, but that is not the lived reality or what people feel on the ground. They do not feel that is the case in early years education or in our schools. There are voluntary contributions in schools which parents have to pay because schools are unable to subsidise themselves. The Government advertised a policy of free fees and said it is doing a lot for the people, but the reality is that college fees and school contributions are coming out of people's pockets. Everything is on families.

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