Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and I thank him for stepping in for the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy McHugh. It gives me great pleasure to second the Bill proposed by Senator Ó Ríordáin on behalf of my Labour Party colleagues. I commend Senator Ó Ríordáin on bringing this Bill forward. All of us here are aware of his long commitment to education. The first time I met the Senator he was principal of St. Laurence O'Toole girls' school and it was really inspirational to see the way in which he sought to ensure that the students in his school were able to share the same aspirations and expectations for their academic careers as students in more advantaged schools.

For a long time there has been a real issue of equality of access to opportunity through education. There have been real issues about the reality of educational access in this country and the reality of hidden costs in education for children. Senator Ó Ríordáin is well aware of that and I know he brings forward this Bill in that spirit. I am glad the Minister and the Government have indicated that they will not be opposing the Bill and I hope we will see strong cross-party support for it because it is in keeping with the republican tradition of free education and it is an important component of same.

Senator Ó Ríordáin has spoken about the Labour Party's track record on educational policy and on seeking to ensure greater equality for all in education. That is important and I know we will continue to work on that. This Bill is modest in keeping with that spirit of equality in education but it is an important one. It would prohibit the charging of fees by schools in respect of admission or enrolment applications, which is a really egregious issue that so many schools do and they generally tell parents that these fees are non-refundable. There is a dubious legality around such a position but this Bill would put beyond doubt the fact that schools would be prohibited from charging such admission or enrolment fees, either upfront or pre-emptive. It would also prohibit the requesting of parents to make any payment or contribution, although it does not prohibit requests for voluntary contributions in certain circumstances, namely, where it is clear to parents that there is no obligation to pay such a contribution and crucially, where students will not be treated differently in accordance with whether or not a contribution has been made or in accordance with the amount of the contributions. That is hugely important. We are all conscious that most schools which ask for voluntary contributions do not seek to differentiate or make any distinction between students and it would be awful for schools to do so but the Bill puts beyond doubt that students cannot be discriminated against on the basis of voluntary contributions made or amounts given by parents. The Bill is also modest in that it does not prohibit fees being charged by fee paying post-primary schools which are specified in a list of such schools published by the Minister, nor does it prohibit fees charged by a boarding school or fees charged for post-leaving certificate courses.

It is modest in its aim but it will nonetheless have a really important impact. By coincidence, when I was canvassing last night I met a parent who, unprompted, started to tell me about hugely problematic issues they were having with paying the so-called "voluntary contribution" on behalf of their pupils. Although the school in question had made it clear it was a voluntary contribution, nonetheless the parent felt it was not something that they could not pay and the reality is that parents feel under pressure to pay it, even when, as in this case, it is really hard for many parents to be able to afford to pay it.

This Bill would make a positive contribution to the debate on equality of access to education. I hope we will see it adopted by Government and passed into law in due course. As I said on the Order of Business, this morning I was at a really positive event in Dublin 8 which was attended by public representatives from all parties and none, namely, the opening of the new building at Griffith Barracks multi-denominational school. It was opened by the Minister, Deputy McHugh, but many of us were present to finally see this wonderful new building opened after 19 years of campaigning by local parents in the school community. It was a positive moment for our community. I see this Bill as being in keeping with that positive spirit and seeking to make a positive contribution to ensuring greater equality of access for our children to education in this republic.