Digital Divide and Back to School Costs: Motion [Private Members]
Dail Éireann — 2026-07-15
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Duncan Smith (LAB), Dublin Fingal East

You have had your moment.
We have put this motion down in July 2026, at a time of relative plenty. While over the past number of years things have been brought in to attempt to relieve the burden on parents and families in relation to school costs, this Government has continued, almost by stealth, to squeeze families in relation to the cost of education. State examination fees continue to go up. School transport fees continue to go up under this Government. The cost of ancillary services, energy, insurance and waste services, which all impact on school and education, continue to go up while the supports that parents rely on, like the double child benefit payment or energy credits, are gone. These are all under this Government. Again, it is a squeeze - a stealth tightening - on parents and families in relation to education. If the Government was really serious about education, it would do something to enforce the 2017 circular on affordable uniforms rather than just talk and hope that schools bring it in.
The study published this month by the Irish League of Credit Unions, ILCU, found that 59% of parents said covering back-to-school costs is a financial burden and more than one in four is going into debt. That should be the wake-up call that this Government needs that whatever measures it believes it is taking are nowhere near good enough and that parents and families are struggling. We say we have a free education system when, in fact, we do not. There are huge inequalities. There are haves and have-nots and if you are a have-not in this country, you feel it in many different ways and one way you feel it is in access to and the ability to enjoy education. This Government is not doing enough and this motion sets out ways that it can do more.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-07-15/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:08+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-15