A west Roscommon principal believes additional funding from the Department of Education is welcome but will only stretch so far.
Noel Loftus who is principal of St. Attracta's National School in Ballaghaderreen says the energy subsidy and free school books scheme announced in Budget 2023 will support educational facilities.
However he feels Ireland is a long way off free education and says just last week he held a meeting with the school's parents' association in an effort to come up with creative fundraising ideas.
Noel says schools will always try to absorb the costs without putting the strain on parents.
''Schools will always do their best to try and absorb costs and in fairness to the Department of Education, more funds are available to schools but that said the funds only stretch so far. And we have to keep an eye in terms of the funds on our fuel costs on our energy costs. So we'll always be turning to parents for that additional piece of support.''
