Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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55. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the engagement her Department has had with schools regarding the payment of voluntary contributions by parents. [22506/23]

Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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Every year, parents are asked and sometimes demands are made of them for voluntary contributions, as schools try to bridge the gap between education grants and outgoings. Given the cost-of-living crisis that has gripped this State, what engagement has the Minister's Department had with schools regarding the payment of voluntary contributions by parents?

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The Government believes and is clear that a rise in the cost of living should never be a barrier to education. The Deputy will be aware that as part of the cost-of-living measures announced in budget 2023, the Government provided an additional €90 million to schools as once-off additional capitation funding. This investment, in addition to a range of other funds being made available to schools, sought to ensure that any increased operational costs for schools were not passed on to parents. In the context of the current cost-of-living crisis and the additional funding being made available to schools, I firmly believe that schools should not seek additional voluntary contributions from parents.

All recognised primary and post-primary schools in the free education scheme benefited from this additional capitation funding in December 2022, which represents an increase of circa 40% of current capitation rates. The programme for Government contains a number of measures to help families address the cost of education. The standard rates of the capitation grant have increased by 7.5% in recent years. The standard rate of capitation for primary schools is now €183 per pupil and it is €316 per pupil in post primary schools.

The Government has introduced a new scheme to provide free schoolbooks to children and young people enrolled in recognised primary schools, including special schools, which will greatly reduce the burden on these families and reflects the importance that the Government places on education. This scheme will ensure that parents and guardians of children in primary schools will not be asked to buy or rent any schoolbooks, workbooks or copy books in autumn 2023. In excess of 558,000 pupils enrolled in approximately 3,230 primary schools, including more than 130 special schools, will benefit from the scheme. This funding will also provide schools with an administrative support grant to assist with the roll-out of the programme.

The programme for Government also contains a commitment to enable the Education (Student and Parent Charter) Bill 2019. The overall aim of the Bill is to improve the level of engagement in the school community by inviting feedback, comment and observation from students and parents and by further developing a listening culture in our schools. One of the key concepts of the Bill is the need for a school to consult students and parents on individual school plans, policies and activities. This approach will help ensure that the various views of students and parents are heard in schools.

The Bill also provides for schools to provide information to students and parents regarding voluntary contributions and how they are spent. While voluntary contributions can be requested by schools, it must be made absolutely clear to parents that there is no requirement to pay, and that, in making a contribution, they are doing so of their own choice. There is no compulsion to pay.

Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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Where is a school meant to go when there is a shortfall between funding from the Department and its outgoings? There are two givens every year when it comes to back-to-school conversations among parents. One is the ironic statement that we have free education and the other is the equally ironic so-called voluntary contributions. It is ironic because in reality we know that they are neither voluntary nor a contribution. Sinn Féin introduced the Education (Voluntary Contributions) Bill 2021 to place a statutory obligation on the Minister to regulate the collecting of voluntary contributions from parents, to oblige schools to publish the total moneys collected annually and for the detail of the expenditure of those moneys to be provided. The Minister did not oppose the Bill but she kicked it down the road for nine months on the back of the Education (Student and Parent Charter) Bill, which is still on Committee Stage. Our Bill wanted greater transparency and accountability. More importantly, we ultimately wanted a prohibition on voluntary contributions, children being treated differently, directly communicated with for payment, denied access to lockers and to school journals, none of which would have been dealt with under the Education (Student and Parent) Charter Bill. I essentially have one question, which has a yes-no answer. Does the Minister support the abolition of voluntary contributions?

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I want to be clear that section 64 of the Education Act, added to by the Education (Admission to Schools) Act 2018, explicitly prohibits the charging of admission and enrolment fees in our schools. No fee can be charged for instruction in any subject that is on the school curriculum. There is absolutely no charge for education from that point of view. The Deputy referred to schools that might face challenges. I want to be clear, as I articulated earlier, that significant funding is available to schools. We have seen increases in student capitation of more than 7.5% in the last couple of years. We have seen €90 million extra being made available, with a 40% uplift in the capitation fees being paid to schools. Regarding voluntary contributions, I want to be clear that there is absolutely no compulsion on parents and guardians to provide any type of contribution to the school. It is explicitly underlined in section 64 of the Education Act that education in its purest sense is free of charge.

Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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Is the Minister aware that the Society of St. Vincent de Paul has commissioned Grant Thornton to conduct a survey to identify the current gaps in funding for all categories of post-primary schools? Last August, the organisation received 30 calls per hour from desperate parents. Fast forward to this year and schools and those in charge of their administration are finding it increasingly difficult to plug the gap in simply running a school. Whatever little reserves they had are being whittled down to nothing. The pressure is passed on to parents who, between the vastly increased cost of light and heat and putting food on the table and a roof over their heads, are under unprecedented financial pressure. Providing the very basics is increasingly a juggling act for many families between the cost of uniforms, shoes, tracksuits and runners. The cost of ring binders has increased 120% in recent years. Let us imagine the mental arithmetic that needs to come into play for parents trying to get one, two and possibly three children back to school in September. Does the Minister agree with the abolishment of voluntary contributions or does she support them?

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I want to be very clear. The Government has been very cognisant of the demands placed on parents. She will be aware that this September the free schoolbooks programme will be rolled out in all our primary schools. We have had an expansion of DEIS with additional supports going into schools, and the hot school meals programme is being rolled out to our schools. School transport is another cost for parents. The Deputy will be very familiar with the fact that we have sought a considerable reduction at a cost of €50 at primary school level and €75 at post-primary level, with a maximum payment of €125 per family. Considerable efforts have been made by the Government to support families who are facing difficulties and that is across the board.

I want to be very clear about voluntary contributions. I was very clear when the €90 million in additional supports to schools was being made available. It is not at all preferable. I do not in any instance see why any parent should be asked to support a school with a voluntary contribution. The Deputy raised the point about schools finding it difficult to manage. If an individual school has an issue to manage, it is entitled to contact the financial support services unit, and schools do so. I visit schools the length and breadth of the country. The issue was acknowledged in the €90 million additional money made available to schools this year with regard to energy costs and the increase of 7.5% in capitation.