Minister to act on school payments

Parents have been told by Education Minister Jan O’Sullivan to notify her department if schools insist they pay contributions that are supposed to be voluntary.

However, she rejected opposition claims that she has the power to compel school boards to adopt policies that would reduce costs of uniforms for parents.

Responding to the latest school costs survey from the Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU), which revealed annual concerns about funding children’s return to school and the debts some families accrue to do so, the minister said there should be no compunction on parents to pay towards schools’ running costs.