Jen Cummins
Question:532. Deputy Jen Cummins asked the Minister for Education and Youth her plans to ban voluntary contributions in schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3726/26]
View answerTuesday, 20 January 2026
Questions (532)
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Section 64 of the Education (Admissions to schools) Act 2018 explicitly prohibits the charging of admission and enrolment fees for admission to, or for continued enrolment in a school. In instances where the department is made aware of schools' charging fees that are prohibited by section 64, the Department will follow up with the school(s) concerned. Voluntary contributions by parents of pupils enrolled in recognised schools are permissible provided it is made absolutely clear to parents that there is no requirement to pay and that, in making a contribution, they are doing so of their own volition.
The Government recognises that the cost of preparing children for school each September can be a cause of financial difficulty and worry for many Irish families. €170 million has been allocated to provide free schoolbooks for some 940,000 children and young people enrolled in schools in the Free Education Scheme, from the start of the 2025/26 school year. This means every child in the Free Education Scheme in our country has received free schoolbooks for the first time.
The Department is committed to providing funding to recognised primary and post-primary schools in the Free Education Scheme by way of per capita grants. The two main grants are the capitation grant to cater for day-to-day running costs such as heating, lighting, cleaning, insurance, general up-keep and ancillary related grants to cater for the cost of employing ancillary services staff. Schools have the flexibility to use capitation funding provided for general running costs and ancillary related funding provided for caretaking and secretarial services as a common grant from which the board of management can allocate according to its own priorities.
The Government is committed to increasing funding to support schools and the Programme for Government commits to increasing capitation funding to schools of all types to ensure that schools can meet day-to-day running costs. The commitment in the Programme for Government builds on the progress which has been made in recent years.
The Department has secured €39 million in Budget 2026 towards increased capitation funding for primary, post-primary and special schools to provide additional financial support towards their running costs. It is the Department’s objective that this increase will significantly impact on helping schools to manage their running costs and reduce the financial burden on families.