Madam, - The State does not cover the costs of running national schools in the country. Everybody knows this to be the case.
The shortfall in spending is made up of voluntary contributions by the parents.
This however, is an extremely unfair system, whereby parents that wish to support their children's school are obliged to support those parents who will not pay their own fair share.
Of course there will be parents who cannot afford the cost involved (less than €4 per week at my children's school). There is no reason that a welfare allowance could not be put in place to help these.
There are also parents who can clearly afford to pay but will not. Who will think nothing of driving around in gas-guzzling SUVs, but will find some reason not to pay their contributions.
Because of the voluntary nature of the contribution there is little that can be done even though the school cannot operate without this money.
So the shortfall ends up being shared amongst fewer people, meaning that those that DO pay, pay even more.
Can the Government Minister responsible not have the guts to address this situation?
There should also be clear guidelines about calculating the contribution, including the build-up of a "sinking fund" to provide for large unexpected bills and provision to collect outstanding amounts from those parents who will complain about the school situation while providing no support themselves. - Yours, etc,
GARRY CLARKE,
The Ward,
Co Dublin.