I thank Deputy Kenny for bringing forward this really important motion, which addresses many of the concerns parents in my constituency are raising with me regarding the increasing back-to-school costs they face each year. I want to hone in on one of the biggest issues with school costs, which is the cost of increasingly mandatory ICT equipment for students. Something I was really pleased to see during the term of office of the previous Government was the roll-out of free schoolbooks. That made a big difference for a lot of families. However, the increasing frequency with which laptops and tablets are being made mandatory for students is seriously undermining that progress. In many cases, the cost of ICT equipment is ending up being greater than the cost of schoolbooks ever was. One parent was in touch with me recently to outline how more than half of her back-to-school costs for this year relate to a mandatory laptop that is going to cost over €700. Parents have been told by the school in question that these laptops will only be used for five years, which will necessitate another expensive purchase for leaving certificate year. Aside from the cost factor, there is the clear issue of creating additional waste through ICT equipment that cannot be passed on to new students. There is an expanding frontier of cost increases that the Government has not really got to grips with. The Minister for education needs to give clear and firm guidance around what is and is not acceptable in terms of placing ICT cost demands on parents. There also needs to be serious investment in the grant scheme relating to ICT infrastructure, with a view to ultimately making these devices free for families. This is only one issue we need to address in terms of child poverty and school costs. There are many more. We need additional child benefit, we need to increase the back-to-school allowance to deal with rising uniform costs and we need to boost funding for the school meals scheme in order to maximise quality and nutrition as well.

Sentiment score: 0.22