Over the last 48 hours, parents of leaving certificate and junior certificate students received letters telling them that the Government was bringing back examination fees. That will be a bill of over €100 for many families across the State. I cannot believe the Government is sending these letters out in a week when families are under so much pressure. It was the wrong decision in the budget, and we called it out at the time, but it is a worse decision today. Working households cannot catch a breath with the constant price hikes. The last thing they need now is another bill landing in their door. Parents are watching every euro and working miracles to stretch household budgets. Things are really tight for folks. Now, the Government is going to force them to pay out over €100 for each child sitting their State exams. I believe this is wrong. I ask the Government to reverse this decision, give hard-pressed families a break and scrap these exam fees.

The Government works in a number of ways to try to help and assist families. We have brought in many services to assist people with the cost of education, including the free schoolbooks and hot school meals programmes. It was well known that the leaving certificate fees were reverting this year.