Kathryn Reilly (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 21:

In page 9, between lines 16 and 17, to insert the following: “8. The Minister shall report to the Houses of the Oireachtas on an annual basis on the use and extent of voluntary contributions by schools with a view to phasing them out.”.

These amendments were discussed on Committee Stage. Their purpose was to amend the current legislation in order that schools would be required to make available information to parents on voluntary contributions in the same way that information was available for State funding allocations. The second amendment, No. 22, was to further compel the Minister to report to the Dáil on the practice of seeking voluntary contributions.

The reason these amendments were resubmitted is the Minister mentioned on Committee Stage that she would introduce an education (admission to schools) Bill to deal with admissions and fees. A parent and student charter is forthcoming but there are concerns about the issue of voluntary contribution and the huge costs faced by parents and families. Many schools use voluntary contributions extensively to plug gaps in school funding and in some cases children are excluded from activities or have lockers withheld when such charges are not paid. I seek more information on when the legislation on this will be introduced and more details on the parent and student charter. There is a fear that schools will be let off the hook on this for a while and many hard-pressed families will suffer in the interim. The educations of young people should not suffer because parents cannot pay voluntary contributions.