Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is nice to be back in the Seanad.

This amendment relates to a new provision inserted in the Bill on Committee Stage. The new provision would require all schools to provide to both parents and the Department information relating to voluntary contributions inclusive of the total moneys collected annually and a detailed expenditure of those moneys by the school and would require my Department to publish all of this information on its website on an annual basis.

During the Committee Stage debate, I outlined my concerns about this provision and indicated to the House that I would examine it in more detail, and would, if necessary, bring forward an amendment to address my concerns. In particular, I outlined that I needed to reflect carefully on the additional administrative burden that it would place on schools. This is a particularly important consideration for me. I had been clear that it is not my intention or the intention of this legislation to unnecessarily add to the administrative burden on schools.

In the period since Committee Stage was completed, I carefully examined this provision and I have some concerns arising from that examination. Of particular concern is that this provision will undoubtedly lead to an additional and significant administrative burden for schools. It puts in place an entirely new and much more extensive financial reporting requirement on schools. This new requirement is in addition to what I have already provided for in the Bill in relation to schools providing information on voluntary contributions and how they are spent directly to students and to parents.

The wording of this provision is also problematic. It refers in general terms to information on detailed expenditure being provided to parents and to the Department but it does not specify what information or level of detail must be provided. The provision is, therefore, unclear and is not consistent with the overall approach in the Bill, which involves the charter guidelines setting out clearly the specific information that is to be provided to students and parents.

The guidelines will be developed following a consultative process with the education partners. This consultative process will help ensure the reporting requirements put in place under the charter guidelines are clear to all, the relevant information needed for transparency is made available, and the reporting requirements are straightforward and workable at school level. In addition, all schools must comply with their obligations under the charter guidelines and the Minister may issue a direction to any school that is not so complying, including where it is not complying with the requirement to provide information in relation to voluntary contributions.

The inclusion in the Bill of another requirement outside of, and entirely separate from, the charter requirements for the provision of a further and potentially more detailed set of data to parents and the Department does not make sense. The publication of such data would also inevitably lead to the creation of a new type of league table - this time about school finances and levels of voluntary contributions. We all know that league tables that take account of only one aspect of a school's life are unfair, lacking in context and do not reflect the individual school's efforts, circumstances and challenges. Similar issues would arise in relation to the publication of data on voluntary contributions.

Every school is different and has different fundraising requirements and priorities. At any given time, these may differ. Those requirements and priorities can also change over time within a particular school.

Publishing data that allow for a comparison of schools based on moneys raised and spent in a given year without any consideration of context would be misleading for parents and unfair to the schools concerned. For example, such comparisons would not reflect the difference between a school that consistently seeks high contributions and a school that in a given year or for a short period is fundraising for a particular project or facility but typically does not seek or raise significant amounts from parents. It also would not distinguish between those schools that are clear to parents that all contributions are voluntary and those schools in which parents may perceive that there is an obligation to make a contribution even though it is voluntary.

In this Bill, I am putting in place an obligation on schools to be transparent on voluntary contributions and to provide key information to parents on the moneys raised and how they have been spent. I am doing this in a structured and clear way as part of a school's obligation under its student and parent charter. I believe that the approach that I have taken in the Bill in this regard is clear, fair and balanced and will not be unduly burdensome for schools.

I accept that the intentions of the Senator at all times on the issue were motivated by his own insights into this. I regret having to delete a provision previously voted in by the House but after taking the time since Committee Stage to examine this addition provision in detail, for the reasons I have outlined I propose to delete it from the Bill.