Sligo Teacher says Back to School costs are putting many families under pressure

A Sligo Councillor says there a number of measures that could be introduced to help under pressure families with back to school costs. Parents say they're raiding savings, going to moneylenders, and cutting back on essentials to cover the costs of the new school year, The Back to School survey for Barnardos shows more than half are worried about how they’ll meet the costs this year. Uniforms, voluntary contributions and the price of laptops and tablets are their biggest concerns. Marie Casserly is a secondary school teacher and parent. She says measures like the introduction of the free school books scheme has helped eased the burden for parents but she says there are still a lot of cost associated with returning to school for parents: