Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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121. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will introduce legislation to ensure that schools provide to parents a breakdown of the way voluntary contributions are spent; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50106/13]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The Education Act 1998 requires that every school, other than a school established or maintained by an Education and Training Board, must keep accounts of monies it receives and of the expenditure of such monies and that such accounts are properly audited or certified in accordance with best accounting practice. The Act provides that such accounts must be made available for inspection by parents.

While these provisions concern monies provided by the Oireachtas, schools are not precluded from their school accounts providing details of other income and expenditure relating to voluntary contributions and in my view it would be good practice for all schools to do so.

During this school year I will be publishing plans for a Parent Charter that will strengthen the position of parents generally within our school system. The issue of the types of information that should be made available to parents is an issue that I will be looking at in that context.