Parents to be able to pay online for school activities

Parents are to be offered a range of online, card, and in-shop options to pay their children’s schools for trips, sports, and other activities.

Around 100 schools should benefit from the electronic payments plans next year, rolling out later as an option for all 4,000 primary and second-level schools.

In a 2014 study, the Central Bank found that cash and cheques were still the main methods by which payments were made to schools, with up to 80% of primary school parents, and nearly two-thirds at second-level, restricted mainly to paying by cash.