Sir, - Just over 30 years ago, the then Minister for Education introduced free post-primary education for all. At the time there were many who doubted the wisdom of Donagh O'Malley's bold initiative: "Could the country afford it?" "Ought not parents pay for their children's education?" "Education already consumes a large slice of the national cake",
etc, etc. The doubters were wrong. Who, in the booming Irish economy of today, would question the value of free post-primary education?
Perhaps this is the time for another bold initiative from the current Minister for Education who already has many successes to his credit. Would he now introduce free primary education for all? He could do so by raising the capitation grant for each primary school child to the same level as that for his peers in the post-primary sector.
The current capitation grant for a primary school child is £50 a year. By raising this grant to £100 in the next Budget and to £150 in the year, 2,000 primary schoolchildren would be put on a par with their post-primary siblings. It is only then that we could claim to have free primary education in the Republic of Ireland.
The money is in the Government coffers. In the history of our country there never has been a better time to make such a daring move. Inevitably, the doubters will re-emerge. They were wrong in 1967. They would be equally wrong in 1998. - Yours, etc., Liam Lally,
Scoil Eoin, Kilbarrack, Dublin 5.