This motion could not have come at a better time. Last week, a constituent was on to me. She told me that her child had finished school on Tuesday, 30 June and the next day the first payment request from the school had landed in her inbox. That is not the end of it. Between now and August, parents will receive email after email or app notification after app notification reminding them to pay. Sometimes, these reminders come twice a week. Then, throughout the school year, every time the parents open the school app, there is a request for more money. This is not the fault of schools, which are trying to operate with inadequate funding. The families are being asked to bridge the gap and the costs just keep mounting. It is the airtex tops, the school trousers, the crested uniforms and the voluntary contributions that we know are not voluntary. Then comes secondary school and the bills get even bigger. Parents are expected to buy Chromebooks, laptops and iPads, often designated through one supplier at inflated prices. One constituent mentioned to me that she had just paid €980 for her daughter who was starting secondary in September. The device cost hundreds more than it would have in Power City. Then she has to buy Microsoft Office, again, even though she already owns it. I do not understand why the Department has not established an IT service for schools. These devices are now mandatory, more or less, yet parents are carrying the full burden. It feels like the company Wriggle has an exclusive arrangement and no real competition. This is not an isolated incident. I hear it repeatedly from parents across my constituency. On top of that, the Government has brought back State examination fees. School transport charges have doubled, particularly for people going from zone 1 to zone 2, for kids in Rush and Lusk accessing the Loreto Secondary School in Balbriggan. For families in Dublin Fingal West, particularly Ballyboughal, the situation is worse. The school bus service that goes from Ballyboughal to Lusk Community College forces parents to drive their kids to the outskirts of the town, absorbing fuel costs. That bus needs to go through the village so that students can walk to the bus. That should be looked at in the coming year. The message parents are getting is simple: at every stage of their children's education, they are met with another bill. Education is supposed to be free but for too many families it no longer feels that way. The cost of sending a child to school has become one of the biggest financial pressures for working families. Parents are doing everything they can but they cannot keep being treated as the Department of education's funding model. It is time for the Government to recognise the reality families are living with and take meaningful action to reduce the cost of education, instead of shifting more and more of the burden onto parents.

Sentiment score: -0.01