Laois TD insists back to school costs are a ‘major worry for parents’ and ‘need further reduction’

A Laois TD has said that back to school costs are a “major worry for parents” and insisted that these costs “need further reduction.”

Independent Republican TD Brian Stanley made the remarks following contact from several parents who he said “are already facing a cost-of-living crisis in terms of the cost of groceries, of insurance, electricity etc.

“Back to school costs puts further pressure on them each year,” Deputy Stanley said, calling for all schools to introduce “generic uniforms” and urging the Government to “help (parents) with the cost of having to buy digital devices” such as laptops for their children’s education.

“Back to school costs are again a major worry for parents this year,” the Laois TD said.

“According to the Irish Credit Union League, the average cost of having a child in Primary School is €1450 and for secondary school €1560.

“A Barnardos survey this week stated that 54% of parents are worried about meeting costs.

Deputy Stanley criticised the voluntary contributions parents are faced with, which he described as “a charge on each parent to meet the essential overheads that schools have to cover,” saying the charges are “not voluntary contributions because parents feel pressurised into paying them.”

The Laois TD blamed the issue on what he called the “low” capitation grant – the annual funding given to schools to cover costs such as electricity, heat and insurance.

The standard rate of the grant for the 2025/2026 school year is €224 per mainstream pupil, paid in two instalments with 70% paid in January and the remaining 30% paid in June.

“This is clearly insufficient, and schools are reporting to me right throughout the last two years that they are struggling to meet day-to-day overheads,” Deputy Stanley said.

“This is effectively putting a levy on parents, which they feel pressurised to pay. The Government needs to make sure this grant is increased to an adequate level in the upcoming budget this October.”

The Laois TD said that “27% of parents of secondary school children and 14% of primary school parents” are forced to “dip into savings or take out loans” to cover the costs.

“We need to reduce the cost of getting children back to school,” he reiterated.

“I recently met with the teacher’s union (INTO) who are demanding increased capitation grants. The Government needs to send guidelines to schools regarding generic uniforms and provide assistance for laptops and IT equipment.

“We need to get away from a situation where we have stressed out parents every year.

“I’m calling on Government to sort this out once and for all and to increase the capitation grant”.

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