With more and more and more people now out of work and many others on reduced incomes the crippling costs faced by families as children return to school over the coming days will place unprecedented pressure on many families.

Labour has previously published the findings of research indicating that it can cost as much as €1200 per child to cover the costs of uniforms, books, voluntary contributions, stationery etc.

For instance, many schools require students to wear a specialised uniform which can prove to be particularly expensive when compared to those available in the chain stores.

The Minister and her department can no longer wash their hands and needs to put much greater pressure on schools in this regard. I don’t accept the view that schools are entirely independent and that the Minister is powerless to act. At the very least she should publish a set of guidelines for schools in this regard, to ensure that all families are given the option of purchasing the less expensive uniforms.

The Minister must also put greater pressure on schools to operate a book rental scheme. These schemes are operating in many if not most schools around the country, but there are still many where they are not. Book rental schemes can save families hundreds of euro and the Minister must incentivise schools to put such arrangements in place.

I also believe that there should be an up-to-date review of the Aid for School Books Grant Scheme to take account of changing prices and changes in the use of textbooks and that the National Council for Curriculum Assessment should consider the cost of school books when drawing up new or amending existing curricula.

The cost of running a school is all too often being passed on directly to parents in the form of voluntary contributions and various administration fees, but this cost could be reduced if schools could in some way pool their purchasing power. For example, An Garda Siochana secures substantial savings from service providers like the ESB by having one account that covers all stations. There is no reason that the Dept of Education could not negotiate such a deal for our schools. Indeed there’s no reason a similar arrangement could not be put in place for the providers of other goods and services such as cleaning and stationery.

Finally, in recent weeks, the arrangements in place in the HSE for processing applications for the back to school allowance have proven to be completely inadequate. A massive backlog has built up and it is clear that thousands of families who are entitled to receive payment under the scheme will not receive it in time. The latest HSE response where staff have been reallocated to speed up the processing of these applications is too little too late, and these steps should have been taken weeks ago.

Ciarán Lynch TD Constituency