A dressing down for parents who moan about school uniform costs

At this time of year, every year, the media highlights the expense of children going back to school. It is expensive to raise a child, and there are issues in the system that could be looked at. But I can’t understand how people constantly say that there’s not “free education”.

Our country is in a bad way, but every child still gets €130 a month from government. This is taxpayer money and amounts to €1,560 a year, or €24,960 until the child is 16, or €28,080 until the child is 18.

It costs €1,000 a year to cover school costs for a young child. So, if you get €1,560 a year, that gives you €560 to spend on other things. You can’t argue that this doesn’t cover everything. There is also a back-to-school allowance. It’s a supplement.