Social Democrats education spokesperson Jen Cummins said schools should stop insisting on costly branded uniforms during the cost-of-living crisis and instead give parents the choice of generic alternatives.

Deputy Cummins said: "There have been fresh warnings from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) about the burden placed on parents having to buy expensive branded uniforms from exclusive suppliers.

"The CCPC has again urged schools to move towards generic uniform items and avoid anti-competitive practices that increase costs for families.

"Families are now facing these pressures in the middle of an unprecedented cost-of-living crisis, with parents struggling to meet the growing costs associated with sending their children back to school. "This advice is nothing new. The Department of Education issued a circular almost a decade ago, clearly setting out measures that schools should take to reduce the cost of uniforms for families.

"The Department should have done more to encourage schools to adopt these guidelines. Instead, many parents are still being forced to buy expensive branded items from single suppliers, leaving families with little choice and mounting costs.

"The Minister for Education recently said that schools must do all they can to reduce costs for parents – but we need more than words at a time when families are already stretched to breaking point.

"Individual schools must be persuaded by the Government to reconsider stringent policies that force parents to purchase expensive branded uniforms, instead of letting them shop around for cheaper generic options."