Parents who send their children to fee-paying schools are investing in education rather than â€œgoing on the beer or going on holidaysâ€, the principal of Presentation Brothers College in Cork has said.

A new report by the Dept of Education shows that 55 private schools have a combined â‚¬81 million for discretionary spending. Fee-charging schools benefit from additional incomes of up to â‚¬4.7m each annually. Pres Principal Ken Whyte was defending fee-paying schools on RTÃ‰ radio on Tuesday and called the Presentation Brothers College fees of around â‚¬3,500 a year â€œreasonableâ€.

He said: â€œPeople are investing in education. We should be delighted that there are people out there who are taking their after-tax income and putting it into education as opposed to going on the beer or going on holidays.â€

Minister for Education RuairÃ­ Quinn is considering using some of the State funds allocated to fee-paying schools for non-fee paying schools in an effort to make the system more equitable. He said: â€œWe have to see best how best the whole society can share resources.â€Mr Whyte is against this. â€œI think this is driven by ideology rather than saving the taxpayer money. The Minister has been pushing this agenda for quite some time. It's anti-middle class and it's anti-Catholic and anti-Protestant.â€œMiddle-income people are feeling all the pain, and this is just more pain from the Government. In effect what you're saying is that children of middle class parents are going to be penalised because their parents pay taxes and work hard and want to invest their money in education. That's what its about really.He added that â€œmany people do have the resources and they have chosen not to invest in education and just using the state system and they are quite entitled to do that. Fees are just another form of fundraising.â€â€œIt's like a public-private partnership. That is something to be praised surely? We should have more fee paying schools, not less of them,â€ he said. â€œIf the Government could run its financial affairs as well as secondary schools, the country would be in an awful lot better state.â€

More than points

SeÃ¡n O Broin, Principal of Kinsale Community School, which recently earned a unique hat trick of national wins in the BT Young Scientist Competition over the past seven years, believes that community schools offer a more rounded education.

He said: â€œI've never been in a private school in my life. I can only talk about community schools, as they are the only schools that I've taught in.â€â€œThe Minister has to choose wisely as to how to spend money. He has to be as generous as possible to non-fee paying schools so no inequality occurs.â€

His school has outperformed every other school in Ireland in the BT Young Scientist Competition, but stresses that Kinsale Community School prioritises a complete education and will take any student.

â€œYou need to recruit able teachers who have the agendas of the children at heart. That attracts good students and that's how you ensure the taxpayer gets value for money.

â€œEvery child from sixth class is admitted. Community schools give a fabulous education. There is more than just points,â€ he added, mentioning a social and holistic education as being important.