I welcome the motion. The matter to which it relates is something in respect of which Sinn Féin has been campaigning consistently for many years. There is no doubt that costs are rising and putting families under severe pressure over the summer months. At a time when children and young people are at home and with the good weather, constant demands on parents' budgets are causing massive concern. We need to see the end of the so-called voluntary contributions. I understand why schools look for them. They are trying to keep the lights on and trying to keep toilet rolls in bathrooms. It is the basic stuff they cannot afford. They cannot afford these things because of the gaps in funding. We need to end restrictive single-supplier arrangements. We have already called for this in our affordable school uniform Bill. It is bizarre that the State does not fund digital devices. What is the point of free school books when people have to find hundreds of euro to pay for devices? In a country that is home to most of the largest IT and social media companies in the world, surely, we must be leading the way in terms of technology in our schools. What has the Government done in respect of this matter? It has cut €15 million from the ICT grants for schools, which are down to a miserly €35 million. A recent survey puts the cost of education at €1,794 for primary school and €2,928 for the post-primary. Those are shocking costs for parents, particularly in view of the cost-of-living crisis. Of course, the Minister of State will point to the free books scheme. Surely even he can see that has been wiped out by the increasing cost of digital devices. This matter needs to be addressed. A letter from the Minister, however nicely worded, has simply not worked. We are often told that Ireland is a world leader in terms of quality educational systems. What we need is fair and equitable access to the education system for all of our children and young people. We often talk about nobody being left behind. I can tell the Minister of State that there are children all over this State who are being left behind.

Sentiment score: 0.08