First, I wish to identify myself and the Labour Party with the words of condolence and solidarity expressed with the people of Toronto and Canada generally in the aftermath of yesterday's dreadful events.

Following a survey of almost 2,000 parents last August, Barnardos published a report on back-to-school costs. This showed that the average cost of sending a senior infant to school was €355, an increase of €15 on the previous year. That increases to €395 for a fourth class pupil and an astronomical €800 for a second level pupil. Parents stress the burden they face in meeting those costs for uniforms, shoes, books, stationery, trips and so on. There is also the so-called voluntary contribution. The survey found that the average cost of so-called voluntary contributions was €80 per child in senior infants rising to €150 for a second level pupil. Yesterday, the Catholic Primary School Managers Association published another report which showed that the current capitation grant of €170 per pupil covers just 52% of the running cost of schools. It also showed that parents spent €46 million to subvent that shortfall.

The programme for Government contains a commitment to increase capitation payments which has not yet been delivered upon. We have an action plan for education but we do not have an action plan to ensure that the State meets its fundamental role in providing what is set down in law, namely, free primary school education. In each of the last two alternative budgets produced by the Labour Party, we committed to increasing the rate, beginning last year with €10 per pupil. Alongside this, we proposed a further €10 per pupil if the school agreed not to ask for or accept voluntary contributions. That proposal had a modest cost of €15 million, but unfortunately it was not delivered in the budget. In the context of the education expenditure, that amounts to 0.2% of the Department's budget. Tomorrow, my colleague, Senator Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, will publish our plan to ban voluntary contributions and place the onus on the State.

Does the Taoiseach agree that so-called voluntary contributions should not be a feature of our school system and should be banned and that there should not be a supposedly voluntary requirement to make contributions to meet day-to-day costs? Will the Taoiseach commit to increase the capitation available to schools in the next budget?

I acknowledge the enormous costs which arise for parents in preparing children for school, whether it is the cost of clothes, sports gear, books and all the other things that children require to participate fully in school life. Part of the Government's role is to assist parents with those costs through measures such as child benefit and increases in family income supplement and the working family payment which came into effect in recent weeks. In the past two years, we have increased the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance twice. I did that as Minister two years in a row, my predecessor in the Deputy's party having reduced it two or three years in succession, if I am not wrong.

We had collective responsibility at that stage, did we not?

We have also expanded-----

Obviously not.

-----the school meals programme considerably in recent years, extending it to all DEIS schools and, for the first time, beyond them. The latter is because we know that 50% of children who are disadvantaged do not attend DEIS schools. We have also done other things such as subsidising childcare, bringing in a second year of preschool and ensuring that everyone gets the two full years of early childhood education. These are just a few examples of what the Government is doing to assist parents with the cost of rearing children and sending them to school.

On voluntary contributions, the Minister for Education and Skills issued a circular to all schools in April in order to ensure a greater emphasis on reducing costs for parents. The approach will be underpinned by law in the education (parent and student charter) Bill and will require that schools publish financial statements showing how all voluntary contributions are spent. Voluntary contributions are permissible provided it is made absolutely clear to parents that there is no question of any compulsion to pay, that in making a contribution they are doing so under their own volition and that they are not under pressure to do so. Apart from those recognised fee-charging second-level schools, recognised primary and post-primary schools are precluded from charging school fees. No charge may be made in respect of instruction in any subject of the school curriculum or for recreation, other than in respect of activities in which all students are expected to take part. It is, however, permissible for schools to seek payments in respect of extracurricular activities such as those which are not obligatory and in which individual students can choose whether to participate. This is all outlined in Circular 0065/2010, which clarifies what charges can be requested from parents.

Capitation rates, as well as many other things, were reduced in the crisis years. We all share responsibility for those decisions. The problem now is that they have not been restored at a time when other things have been. Before we left office, we restored social welfare payments as best we could. There is a commitment in terms of pay. We negotiated pay restoration. The capitation grant is simply not a priority for the Government. That is clear. I acknowledge that it is only one of the issues which need to be addressed in order to make free education truly free. The back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance is also a factor and should be increased further. We should have a truly free book scheme in every school because, in truth, not only do we not have free education, we do not have equal education. The capacity of parents in some schools to make so-called voluntary contributions is infinitely greater than in others. Without making political points this time, the Taoiseach might say that this is a priority for the Government and that we will actually have free education in this country, as is supposed to be the case in accordance with the law.

I am amused once again. When it comes to Question Time, it is always permitted for Opposition leaders to make political points-----

The Taoiseach should be attacking the decisions he made as a member of Cabinet.

-----but it is never permitted for me to do so.

He should attack himself.

I was drawing a contrast-----

The Taoiseach did occupy that space at one time.

I was drawing a contrast between the Labour Party's alternative budgets and those it actually introduced. There was a considerable difference between them.

We were living in different economic times, as the Taoiseach keeps saying. What happened to the decade that was lost?

Again, we heard one thing that was not quite correct. The cuts in weekly social welfare payments to lone parents, the disabled, carers, the blind, widows and jobseekers were all made by the Fianna Fáil-Green Party Government. Restoration of those weekly payments only started when Fine Gael, the Independent Alliance and Independent Members took over Government two years ago.

That is because they had the money to do it.

Getting to the substance of the question, we now spend €10 billion a year on education. That is more than ever before. It is €1 billion more than was being spent when this Government came to office. How have we spent that money? One cannot do everything one wants to in one year so one has to prioritise. We spent the money on new school buildings all over the country, 6,000 extra teachers, 3,000 extra special needs assistants, 110 more DEIS schools and 300 more special units for children in mainstream schools. We have reduced the pupil-teacher ratio on two occasions and, of course, we have to fund pay restoration for teachers.

We reduced that ratio.

I am not in a position to make commitments about the forthcoming budget at this time. What I can say is that we have increased education spending by €1 billion over the past two years.

We will continue to increase education spending into the next budget but it is not always possible to do everything in the one year. There only is a certain amount of money available.