Ann Graves (Dublin Fingal East, Sinn Fein)
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222. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 553 of 12 November 2025, if there is financial assistance available for parents/guardians who cannot afford the cost of transition year in certain schools. [67433/25]

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Transition Year is a valuable programme for students that offers opportunities to develop future life skills, for personal, social and academic development and to experience other aspects of adult and working life. Transition Year can bring a unique and important value into the lives of students.

The management authority of each school carries responsibility for making decisions regarding the Transition Year programme in that school. Each school designs its own Transition Year programme, within set guidelines, to suit the needs and interests of its students.

Currently, the Transition Year programme is supported by the Transition Year Grant, which is paid on a per capita basis each year in addition to regular capitation payments to all post-primary schools in the free scheme. As part of the capitation package in Budget 2024, the rate of the Transition Year Grant was restored to the pre-2011 level of €100 per student in post-primary schools.

Transition Year is also supported through the payment of teachers’ salaries and the provision of capital funding to schools. The number of students in Transition Year is taken into account when the teaching allocation available to a school is determined, in line with the relevant circulars.

Under the final phase of the Post-Primary Schoolbooks Scheme, free schoolbooks and core classroom resources are being provided to all students in post-primary schools in the Free Education Scheme from the current school year. Under this scheme the per capita rate paid to schools for students in Transition Year is €142 in line with recognised student enrolment.

The Post-primary Schoolbooks Scheme removes the cost from families of funding schoolbooks and core classroom resources for students in post-primary schools in the Free Education Scheme. Schools may use any surplus funding to provide additional classroom resources, defined in the scheme guidance as the supporting materials for any subject, required by students to complete projects and practical elements of the curriculum, beyond schoolbooks and core classroom resources. Expenditure under additional classroom resources is limited to expenditure that, up to the commencement of the scheme, was borne by parents/guardians, either by providing the item themselves or by paying a fee to the school to provide the item. Schools are required to inform parents/guardians of the classroom resources now covered under the scheme. Where additional classroom resources are required but cannot be covered under the scheme, parents/guardians must be advised of how these items will be provided. Schools should either provide parents/guardians with a list of the specific items that they are required to purchase or provide them with information of the fee that the school will charge and a list of items that the school will provide for this fee.

No mandatory charge or fee may be levied on parents or students in respect of instruction in any subject of the school curriculum where all students are expected to take part. This applies to all recognised schools in the Free Education Scheme.

It is also permissible for a school to seek payments in respect of extra-curricular activities provided such activities are not obligatory and individual pupils can choose whether or not to participate. No pupil should be disadvantaged in their learning due to the non-payment of fees.

If a parent is concerned about a requested payment, they can contact the school to discuss. Schools should support parents that are struggling to pay, through offering different methods of payment options including instalments, or fee waivers considering the individual circumstance.

Under the redevelopment of Senior Cycle, I am committed to ensuring that in the future, every student in every school who wishes to participate in the programme will have the opportunity to do so.

The Programme for Government and the Senior Cycle Redevelopment Implementation Support Measures document contain commitments to work with students and schools to identify and address any barriers that remain to ensuring that all student who wish to avail of Transition Year can do so.

At present, over 99% of schools indicate that they offer a Transition Year programme, however, not every school is able to accommodate every student who wishes to participate. The 2024/25 school year saw a continued trend of record participation in TY with over 60,000 students enrolled or just over 80% of the number of students enrolled in Third Year in the previous year.

My officials are currently assessing the level of unmet demand for access to TY, identifying the causes, and determining how to allow schools meet that demand.