Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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I am glad of the opportunity to bring up this issue. It is a very worrying one. It was brought up earlier by Deputy Doherty. It relates to the ongoing school funding crisis in Darver National School. The easiest way to put this on the record is to read out an email a number of parents got the other day:

Dear parents,

I am writing to share an important update regarding the financial situation currently affecting our school.

Over the past several years, government grants have not increased sufficiently in line with rising costs. Despite making every effort to manage resources and reduce spending in ways that do not impact pupils, we have now reached a point where we can no longer cover the costs of certain essential hygiene items. We have worked hard to protect classrooms, teaching and learning from the impact of these financial pressures.

However, we have now reached a point where we are unable to continue covering the cost of certain basic consumable items used daily by pupils. As a result, beginning tomorrow, we kindly ask that each child bring:

- small personal hand towel

- a roll of toilet tissue

This is not a request we ever wished to make and it reflects the very real challenges that ongoing funding shortfalls have created for schools like ours. Please know that we would not be asking for your support unless it was absolutely necessary.

We hope this will be a temporary measure as we continue to advocate for improved financial support and explore all possible avenues to ease the financial burden on the school.

Thank you for your understanding, patient and continued support as we navigate these challenging circumstances.

Kind regards,

The Principal of Darver National School

We are talking about a small rural school in County Louth with 71 pupils and six teachers. We are also talking about an old building. It dates back to around 1940. Obviously, that creates its own maintenance issues. The heating system is outdated - this is a big issue - and does not provide sufficient heat and needs to be replaced. There has been an application for the summer works scheme, which could probably deal with a significant amount of the costs. Government grants have consistently not covered the cost of this school for the past three years. That is my understanding. Obviously, bills have steadily increased during that period. Electricity costs increased by 200% last year. The school is with the OGP so it cannot get a cheaper deal than that. It has other facilities, such as a large outside area, which costs money to maintain with grass-cutting, and the school does not get any additional funding to do that. All the printing and photocopying costs are covered by parent contributions. The school had to replace the door intercom system. Again, that was paid for by parents' association fundraising. They are dealing with and engaging with the financial services support unit and all they have to, but it is a poor reflection when parents have to receive such a letter. I have no doubt that the principal did this as an absolute last resort. It is something we need to address as soon as possible.

I will also put on the record what a parent wrote to me. I have received multiple such emails. I do not think that would be any shock to anybody. The email states:

I am contacting you and your office in relation to an email sent by one of our local schools.

The parents are being advised that the school will no longer support the funding of basic hygiene products for pupils and, from tomorrow, we must send our children into school with a roll of toilet paper and a hand towel each.

As a parent, I am appalled that these are the conditions that children are being asked to deal with in a school day. For the government to not be able to provide funding for basic hygiene to pupils shows an absolute lack of duty of care.

Questions must be asked. What is happening to funding for smaller schools in our county and in the State?

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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You will have to come back in, Deputy. I call the Minister of State.

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Ó Murchú for raising this on behalf of the students and parents of Scoil Dairbhre. That is a very unusual circumstance. It is one that certainly I have not heard of. Obviously, I am not in the Department of education. Perhaps the Minister has heard of such a case, but it is extraordinary. I certainly would have said it is not the norm around Ireland for parents to be asked by the school to bring in toilet rolls and other essential supplies.

In this instance, officials from the Department have made contact with the school, and the school has been referred to the financial services support unit, FSSU, which is a dedicated support service for schools funded by the Department of Education and Youth. This is the usual practice where any school presents as being in difficulty. The FSSU will now work with the school directly to assist it in resolving the financial difficulty.

Schools in financial difficulty are encouraged to contact the Department of Education and Youth for advice and support. The Department is committed to offering all available and appropriate supports to schools, which may include an advance in capitation grant funding or other measures.

Any school with financial concerns is then encouraged to engage directly with the FSSU and the school’s patron in order to work to address the financial challenges at the school.

The Department is committed to providing funding to recognised primary and post-primary schools in the free education scheme by way of per capitagrants. The two main grants are the capitation grant to cater for day-to-day running costs and the ancillary grant to cater for the cost of employing ancillary services staff.

The Department has secured €39 million in budget 2026 towards increased capitation funding for primary, post-primary and special schools to provide additional financial support towards their running costs. This will see an increase in the standard capitation rates paid to schools of €50 per pupil for primary schools from €224 to €274 and of €20 per student for post-primary schools from €386 to €406. This will also allow for an increase of €20 in capitation rates for urban band 1 DEIS primary schools, increasing the mainstream pupil rate in these schools to €294. The increased capitation rates will also see special schools now receive the same rates of capitation for young people aged 12 and over, as their peers in mainstream post-primary schools.

The financial support service unit funded by the Department is an important source of advice and support to schools on financial matters, including budgeting and cash flow management. The contact details for the FSSU can be found on www.fssu.ie There was an acknowledgment in this budget that many schools needed an increase in the capitation grant for day-to-day running. Many schools were reaching out and highlighting that it was a struggle. The instance the Deputy has referenced is highly unusual where parents have been asked to bring in those types of essential materials. I would have thought students' personal hygiene would have been a basic provision that schools would be making. I understand the FSSU in the Department has been in touch. The capitation rates have been increased in this budget and I hope that will relieve some of the pressure on many primary schools in particular. I again thank the Deputy for raising the matter.

Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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I appreciate that we have a new Minister for education who is only just in position. I appreciate that the Minister of State is here to answer this but I will also be asking him to go back to the Department, as I will myself, to make the Minister aware of this so that we can just take it off the agenda. I agree this is not normal and it should not be normal in any way. In this case the next thing the school had to pay for were these hygiene items and money was not there. We have heard other principals say, "We are out of money. This school will close. We cannot keep the wolf from the door." The principal is in no way happy that she had to do this but she has done it and it was probably in an attempt not to go absolutely nuclear in relation to this.

We need to ensure that the engagement with the FSSU comes up with something that is actually sustainable. Beyond that, a major part of this is energy costs. The increase in capitation was acceptance that in recent years capitation did not wash its own face and did not cover the costs that were necessary. This school is not only dealing with increased electrical and energy costs but also with an old heating system, which is a legacy issue. If that one thing was dealt with, it would remove a huge portion of the cost. This is a really good school that people say very good things about. I have been contacted by the school and brought it up with the Taoiseach previously. The issue was about getting sanction for two ASD classes. We really need to ensure that issues like this do not happen, that there is a sufficient amount and that we deal with the issues at Darver National School now and ensure there is sustainable funding into the future. We need to do that across the board in our educational system.

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister, Deputy Naughton, is new in the role. I wish her the best of luck in that role and I am sure she will do a wonderful job. I will ensure she is aware of the situation in Darver National School. Many improvements have been made right across the country. In my constituency I have seen some great work done in older schools that may have been built in the 50s or 60s, which were deteriorating and becoming dilapidated. They have brand new extensions. Children are in most cases attending school in much more comfortable, warmer and dryer conditions compared with when I was in primary school. Significant improvements have been made in that regard.

I agree that the increase in capitation has been too long coming, but it is here now. I am sure that what is happening in the school the Deputy referenced may be a legacy of being underfunded from a capitation point of view and I hope this increase will help that. I know the school has been in touch with the FSSU. The Department has been in touch with the school. We need to get through this to ensure that we can avoid situations where parents are having to get their children to bring these essential hygiene products into school with them. I again thank the Deputy for raising the matter. I am sure it is a fantastic school as he has just highlighted. The important thing now is to ensure that its finances are in order so that it can provide the absolute basics.