A range of educational supports for families and younger people are available – Laois TD Sean Fleming has said.
“The Government is acutely aware that many Irish families feel additional financial pressure each year when they are preparing to send their members of their family back to school or college,” Minister Fleming said.
“It is important that the Government continues to support families with the cost of education.
“It is crucially important that all children and young people are supported to access education to its fullest forms.
“The education system must value every child and young person and support and nurture them to reach their full potential.”
Free Schoolbooks
For the first time ever, the Government is funding over €52 million to support the implementation of free schoolbooks scheme.
All children in our primary and special schools will now arrive into school on 1 September having the required schoolbooks.
DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity In Schools) Programme
The Government recently expanded the DEIS programme which provided for the inclusion of 322 additional schools in the programme from September 2022.
This means the DEIS programme now supports 240,000 students in over 1,200 schools.
The Government will spend in the region of €180 million in 2023 to provide supports to DEIS schools. These schools receive an additional grant each year to support the implementation of their DEIS action plan for improvements.
School Meals Programme
The Government recently approved an additional €14.5 million for all remaining DEIS schools and special schools to be included in the School Meals Programme from September 2023, benefiting an additional 60,000 children to access the programme.
The Government intends to commence the roll-out to all remaining primary schools on a phased basis commencing in 2024.
Capitation Payments and Transport Costs
Capitation payments of approximately €90 million were issued to schools to cover the day-to-day running costs, such as electricity and heat.
The Government will seek to further increase the capitation rates paid to schools in future years.
For the coming school year, the Government has decided the annual school transport charge for a primary school child will be €50 and for a post-primary student will be €75, with a maximum cap per family of €125.
This is a substantial reduction on the previous annual charges and shows again the Government’s commitment to reducing the cost of accessing education for families.
Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance
The rates of Back to School Clothing and Footwear payment for the academic year 2023-24 have been increased by €100 per child to €260 for children aged 4 to 11, and €385 for children aged 12 years and over who are in post-primary education.
The back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance will be paid automatically to more than 120,000 families in respect of approximately 210,000 children during the week beginning on 10 July.
Third Level Students
There will be a reduction of €1,000 in the student contribution for free fees for eligible undergraduate students for the academic year 2023-24.
Students in receipt of the postgraduate fee contribution received a once-off payment of €1,000, increasing their support from €3,500 to €4,500.
The creation of a new student support contribution grant of €500 for incomes of between €62,000 and €100,000 in the SUSI grant scheme will come into place for the new academic year.
The income threshold for the 50% student contribution grant has been increased from €55,240 to €62,000.
Increasing the deduction allowable for student earnings outside term time from €4,500 to €6,552 is very important.
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