I move: That Dáil Éireann: notes that: — research by the Economic and Social Research Institute and the University of Limerick from a survey of more than 720 post-primary schools showed that more than three in ten mandated the purchase of digital devices, including 17 per cent of Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS), and that there is a risk of growing inequalities in the education system; — the Barnardos Back to School 2025 survey showed the average cost of digital devices for second level schools has reached €430, up from €121 in 2022; — since 2015 the Society of St Vincent de Paul has received nearly 3,000 requests for assistance with educational digital devices; — savings to parents from the Primary Schoolbooks Scheme are now being undermined by requests for mandatory Information and Communications Technology (ICT) equipment that is more and more essential for schoolwork; — the Grant Scheme for ICT Infrastructure 2026 for schools was cut by €15 million, to €35 million in 2025, remained at €35 million in 2026 and there is no dedicated funding for repair or maintenance; and — manufacturers have warned that the shortage of memory chips will lead to significant price increases for laptops and tablets; further notes on school costs that: — The Zurich Cost of Education in Ireland 2026 survey, shows an annual cost to parents of €1,794 for primary school and €2,928 for secondary school, and that the number of parents taking out loans to help with costs doubled from 2025 to 2026; — Budget 2026 discontinued the two double Child Benefit payments, removed energy credits, the €400 once-off Working Family Payment, and the once-off family support €100 lump sum per qualifying child; — State Examination Fees have been reimposed on Junior and Leaving Certificate students; — the School Transport Scheme fees have increased to €100 per child with the family cap increasing by €95 to €220, the fee for primary school children doubled from €50, and increased by a third, €25, for post-primary students; — the increased cost of energy, insurance, waste and other essential services are not being met from the Capitation Grant, leaving schools reliant on voluntary donations; — at least 47 schools have been referred to the Financial Support Services Unit of the Department of Education and Youth in the 2025/2026 school year, due to rising costs, an increase of 38 per cent on last year; — the Back-to-School Clothing and Footwear allowance (BSCFA) has been extended to 2- and 3-year-olds, but the €100 cut in the rate in 2024 has never been restored, and the income thresholds remain very restrictive; — parents are provided with no support for other substantial costs including mock exam and correction fees, school trips and tours, after-school and summer extracurricular activities and camps, and students in transition year have additional expenses above normal year-to-year costs; and — the 2017 circular on affordable uniforms is not being enforced, with large numbers still using crested or branded uniforms rather than generic uniform items; recalls that: — the Minister for Education and Youth has written to all schools noting that they cannot make it mandatory for pupils to purchase laptops or tablets, but there is no enforcement of this guidance; — there is still no ban on voluntary contributions forcing parents to have to fund essential school activities; and — the introduction of new curriculums for Leaving Certificate subjects has imposed further extra costs on post-primary schools; and calls on the Government to: — address the growing inequality from the digital divide and ensure all children have access to digital technology in school at no additional cost to parents; — introduce enforceable guidelines for schools on the requirement for laptops and tablets in schoolwork that protects families from the costs of having to buy digital equipment; — restore the school Grant Scheme for ICT Infrastructure 2026 to at least €50 million, and ensure there is a separate stream of funding for the maintenance and repair of equipment; — ensure students have access to a national loan scheme when laptops or tablets are required for school project work; — remove State Examination Fees, and reverse the increases to the School Transport Scheme fees; — restore the €100 cut to the BSCFA and expand income thresholds to increase eligibility and ensure more working families qualify; — ban voluntary contributions and ensure that school capitation rates are increased in Budget 2027 to meet the actual costs of running a school; and — mandate schools to use non-branded uniform clothing and ensure that parents have a choice of supplier to ensure competition on costs. Parents across Ireland are sitting at kitchen tables trying to work out how they are going to pay for another school year. For far too many families, the excitement of a child returning to school has been replaced by financial anxiety. Increasingly, parents are being forced into debt simply to educate their children. In one of the wealthiest countries in Europe, that should shame every single one of us. Education is supposed to be the great equaliser. It should be the pathway that allows every child to achieve their potential, regardless of where they come from or what their parents earn. That has always been a core Labour Party belief. It was the principle that guided Niamh Bhreathnach when she transformed education in this country. She understood that Government should remove barriers to education, not create new ones. The barriers facing families today may be different but the principle has not changed. The Labour Party believes opportunity should be determined by talent, effort and ambition, not by the balance in a parent's bank account. Technology has transformed education for the better and it is now an essential part of modern schooling. If digital learning is essential, then access to digital technology must also be essential. It cannot depend on whether a family can find another €430 at the end of August. Equality of opportunity means very little if opportunity comes with a price tag that thousands simply cannot afford. The Government cannot claim it did not know this was happening. It has had the research from the ESRI and the University of Limerick. It has heard the warnings from Barnardos and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. It has heard from principals, teachers and parents, yet the response has simply not matched the scale of the problem. The research tells us that almost three in every ten secondary schools now require students to purchase digital devices. Even more worrying, almost one in five DEIS schools has introduced these requirements. The very schools established to reduce educational disadvantage are now asking some of the most financially stretched families in Ireland to spend hundreds of euro on technology simply so that their children can participate fully in school. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul has received 3,000 requests for assistance with educational digital devices. Those are not just figures in a report. They represent parents taking out loans, relying on credit cards and sacrificing their own needs or the needs of other children because they refuse to let their children fall behind. As a former teacher, I know that teachers learn quickly. We see the child who quietly falls behind because they do not have the same resources as everyone else. We see parents apologising because they simply cannot afford another payment. Teachers will always do everything they can to support those students, but teachers should not ever be expected to compensate for Government failures. This is no longer simply a digital divide. It has become an education divide. A child without access to the technology required by their school is not simply missing out on a laptop but on opportunities. If access to learning depends on family income, then we are failing in our duty to provide equality of opportunity. The Labour Party welcomed the free books scheme because it genuinely helped many families but let us not pretend free books make education free. Free books do not pay for the hidden costs. Families do not experience Government decisions one at a time; they experience them all together. Government sees separate policies where parents see one enormous bill. The Minister has written to schools stating laptops and tablets cannot be made mandatory; however, parents, teachers and children know the reality. If a child cannot complete assignments or fully participate in class without a device, then that device has become mandatory in everything but name. We need to stop pretending otherwise and introduce enforceable protections for families. As schools become more dependent on technology than ever before, the Government has cut the ICT grant by almost €15 million. That grant stands at just €35 million with no dedicated funding for repairs or maintenance. Schools are expected to deliver 21st century education with 20th century resources. The Government is not reducing the cost of education; it is simply moving the bill from the Department of education to the kitchen table. The pressure on families does not end there. Parents have seen school transport charges increase and State examination fees return. Schools continue to rely on so-called volunteer contributions because capitation has failed to keep pace with the real cost of running a school. At least 47 schools have been referred to the financial support services unit in the Department in the academic year 2026 because they cannot make ends meet. That is not a failure of principals or teachers; it is the consequence of political choices. The Labour Party believes there is a better way. We call for enforceable national guidelines on digital devices, the restoration of the ICT grant to at least €50 million, a national loan scheme so every child can access a device where required, the reversal of increased transport and examination fees, the restoration of the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance, proper capitation funding and genuine choice for parents when buying school uniforms. This debate comes down to one simple question: do we want an education system where every child has the same opportunity to succeed or do we want opportunity to increasingly depend on what their parents can afford? The Labour Party has made its choice. Poverty should never determine potential. Education should be the ladder that lifts children out of disadvantage, not another bill that pushes families further into it. Education should open doors; it should never open overdrafts. I commend the motion to the House.

Sentiment score: 0.10

To finish the debate, I thank all Deputies across the House for their contributions. I am quite surprised by the contributions from some Deputies in Sinn Féin, which holds the finance Ministry in the North of Ireland, where there is currently a €700 million shortfall in the Department of Education.

Sentiment score: 0.33

Sinn Féin Deputies come in here and have a go at the Labour Party for something that happened 15 years ago, when I was in primary school and 11 years old.

Sentiment score: 0.40

It is quite interesting. I am not sure where their priorities lie in providing solutions.

Sentiment score: 0.20

The priorities lie in this motion. Instead they come in here and have a go off the Labour Party - no problem at all.

Sentiment score: -0.15

No, not at all.

Sentiment score: -0.30

Sinn Féin should get back to the priorities in this motion. The Minister in her speech referred on a number of occasions to encouraging schools: I encourage schools to consider how existing ICT supports and funding could be used to meet students' needs before any expectation was placed on parents ... Using the words "encourage schools" is extremely blasé in that it does not pay for digital devices. Saying to schools "I encourage you to look into not using digital devices" does not pay for those digital devices that are required. The Minister referred to a digital learning plan. In our motion we have called for a ring-fenced maintenance fund to be provided by the Department of education for schools. Having been a teacher in two schools, I recognise that these tablets and these laptops that are provided to schools break and that maintenance for them is coming out of capitation grants that cannot be fulfilled by the schools because they are using capitation grants elsewhere. If we had a ring-fenced maintenance fund for these laptops and tablets, it would provide the necessary funding to be able to maintain them. As regards the Minister's reply, guidance to schools is not enforcement to schools. As regards providing guidance and letters to schools that say, "My Department believes that it is not necessary to have laptops and tablets; I am issuing guidance on this", without those enforcement mechanisms being put in place, schools can still mandate children to have a personal digital device, which is what they are doing. In relation to the Minister's comment that "decisions about digital devices should be grounded in pedagogy, informed by engagement with parents and students and mindful of affordability for families", her own Department has created a senior cycle reform, leaving certificate reform, and almost 40% of that leaving cert work is project work now that almost includes the use of a digital device consistently. The Minister said when speaking about school uniforms that Circular 32/2017 makes it clear that schools should take practical steps to reduce costs for families, including use of generic items where possible, avoiding unnecessary exclusive supplier arrangements. It is just not happening. That circular needs to be revisited and schools need to be issued with further guidance. It is a guidance letter once again, a guidance circular that was produced by the Minister at the time in 2017 that gave absolutely no consequences to the school for having branded school uniforms. In my opening speech I, as well as my colleagues, welcomed the free books scheme. It was an essential piece that was brought in within the Department of Social Protection and the Department of education that genuinely helped families. However, that free books scheme is now being undermined 100%, unfortunately, by a lot of schools mandating children to have digital devices. That free books scheme was extremely welcome. I welcomed it as a teacher; I welcome it now as a politician. Unfortunately, it is now being undermined by many schools across the country mandating children to have digital devices. The Minister outlined the cost of school transport. School transport should be free. I do not care if it is €1.32 for families right across the country. It should be free. We should have free school transport in this country for every single child. No financial barrier should be put before a child who needs access to schools, predominantly children living in rural areas. In relation to the engagement and consultation charter Bill, of course consultation with parents is essential, but drawn-out consultation right now will not pay for the significant back-to-school costs that parents are sitting around the kitchen table right now wondering how they will be able to afford in the next month or two.

Sentiment score: 0.19