Sir, – The recent public debate surrounding the extension of school hours once again exposes a deeply ingrained, patronising bias in how society views children’s development and learning. The online commentary dismissively warning that “schools are there to educate children,” “schools are not day cares” or “crèches to dump children” reveals a troubling truth: society continues to enforce a rigid, artificial hierarchy between “minding” a child and “educating” them.Crucially, this debate often ignores what children actually need during school breaks; the unstructured, restorative power of play. Holiday periods should not simply be a continuation of the rigid academic calendar, nor should they be reduced to mere time-killing. For a child, self-directed play is a vital mechanism for decompression, social negotiation, and emotional resilience.We willingly revere secondary and primary teachers as intellectuals guiding children through complex academic thought, while simultaneously deriding equally qualified and experienced early childhood educators as glorified babysitters. This perspective is not only outdated; it is scientifically illiterate.The human brain undergoes its most rapid and critical neurological development before a child ever sets foot in a primary school classroom.When an early childhood educator guides a four-year-old through co-operative play, sensory exploration, or emotional regulation, they are not just “minding” them. They are hardwiring the prefrontal cortex. They are mapping language, building spatial awareness, and constructing the socio-emotional scaffolding upon which all future academic success depends.Every environment a child enters is an educational environment. To view early childhood settings as mere holding pens for the convenience of working parents is, therefore, an insult to highly trained professionals. It is hypocritical to demand exceptional long-term academic outcomes while completely undervaluing the educators who lay the critical foundation for that success. Until we afford early childhood educators the same status, pay, and professional respect as their primary and secondary colleagues, we are failing to value the very foundation of learning. – Yours, etc,MARY MOLONEY, Associate Professor, Early Childhood Education, Mary Immaculate College, Limerick.Visa refusals to Gazan studentsSir, – The Irish Government’s refusal to grant visas to 20 Gazan students, all of whom are self-funded and have been accepted by Irish universities, is beyond despicable. A fair assessment of the circumstances would recognise that the visa requirements imposed are, in this case, effectively impossible to satisfy.Quite apart from this practical reality, there is an overwhelming moral imperative. The Government, its Ministers and the Taoiseach should immediately grant these visas. Doing so would be a small but meaningful step towards addressing accusations of Irish complicity through inaction in what many international organisations, legal scholars and governments have described as scholasticide and ecocide, and what others, including proceedings before international courts, have alleged constitutes genocide in Gaza.The Government cannot credibly claim innocence while continuing trade with Israel and permitting US military flights to transit Irish airspace. Granting these visas would go some way towards atoning for the Government’s complicity in helping to create the catastrophic conditions that have left these students unable to satisfy bureaucratic requirements. – Yours etc.,JIM ROCHE,Senior Lecturer,School of Architecture, Building and Environment,Technological University Dublin,Bolton Street,Dublin 1. Collison and wealth taxSir, – Reports in The Irish Times of Limerick-born billionaire Patrick Collison donating $7 million (€6.2 million) to a political campaign group fighting to block a proposed wealth tax in California is the latest example of a billionaire using their influence in politics.The super-rich continue use their vast wealth to try to influence policy decision-making with elected representatives and the media, and US filings reportedly show that the Stripe co-founder is the latest to join the worrying trend.In April 2026, Oxfam found that the 10 wealthiest Californians held a collective $1.045 trillion, marking a 48 per cent surge in just a year. On average, the wealth growth of the 10 richest Californians was equivalent to an hourly wage of $16.3 trillion.Billionaire wealth has exploded over the last few years, but the need for tax reform to curb inequality is universal. The issue is not just about hoarding finances – but about democracy and power. It is also bigger than one individual. When a single billionaire can spend millions to influence the outcome of a democratic vote, it raises serious questions about whose voices carry the greatest weight.Oxfam Ireland’s commissioned report, Confronting Wealth Inequality in Ireland (2026), found that the wealthiest 10 per cent of households own half of all wealth in the State, while the top 1 per cent alone own 13 per cent. The research warns that excessive wealth concentration creates power imbalances that threaten social cohesion, distort political processes and, in extreme cases, pose a threat to democracy itself.It also concludes that, without policy intervention, wealth concentration tends to worsen over time. A suggested wealth tax model for Ireland to adopt included a modest proposal of 1 per cent wealth tax on the top 1 per cent in Ireland to generate around ¤1 billion for the exchequer to invest in housing, healthcare, infrastructure and other essential public services, while placing Ireland on a more sustainable fiscal footing.Democracies must be shaped by its citizens, not by the size of one individual’s fortune. – Yours, etc,JIM CLARKEN,CEO, Oxfam Ireland,Dublin.Sir, – Patrick Collison is free to spend his fortune as he chooses (“Patrick Collison gives $7m to combat US wealth tax”, July 29th), but his decision to donate millions to try to defeat a proposal to help fund healthcare is revealing.The fact that someone can spend millions in this way is itself an argument for a wealth tax. It also highlights the unhealthy reality that extreme wealth brings not just economic privilege but disproportionate political influence.At a time of severe economic and healthcare inequality, it is difficult to see Collison’s decision as anything other than another billionaire using his fortune to protect the interests of billionaires. – Yours, etcSéamus WHITE,Bóthar na gCloch,Baile Átha Cliath.Paying tax in IrelandSir, – Cliff Taylor is right to call out the high marginal tax rates facing middle earners, but the core issue is the low level at which the top tax bracket kicks in (“Are middle earners ripped off by the Irish income tax system?”, July 30th).The higher rate of income tax currently applies to single workers earning over €44,000. With average annual earnings now approaching €56,000, workers earning significantly below the average are being treated as “high earners” by Revenue.As Central Bank research on fiscal drag demonstrates, failing to index bands to wage growth and inflation results in real-term tax increases by stealth. Automatic tax band indexation is long overdue to protect middle earners from this undue tax burden. – Yours, etc,CLLR EOIN O’DRISCOLL,Fine Gael,Stillorgan -Dún Laoghaire – Rathdown County Council.An own goalSir, – Best own goal ever? Has to be last week’s spectacular overhead volley into the back of his own net by Infantino. – Yours, etc,HUGH McDONNELL,Glasnevin, Dublin 9.Sir, – Is Gianni Infantino the enfant terrible of world soccer? Surely no coincidence. – Yours, etc, NOEL LOCKE, Douglas,Cork. E-scooters and bicyclesSir, – There is much talk about changes to use/safety on e-scooters but little talk about cycles, both electric and manual.Motor vehicles including motor cycles have to have lights on day and night, motor cyclists must wear helmets and must obey the rules of the road.Failure to do so can result in fines, penalty points and, possibly a ban on driving.Surely the proposed rules for e-scooters should apply to cyclists?Any morning/evening, when it is dark and I am out I see cyclists wearing dark clothing, no lights or hi-vis jackets and in the case of electric bikes travelling faster than I am permitted to drive.Surely laws should apply evenly to all road users and, as an addendum, cycle lanes should always be used where they are available. – Yours, etc,PATRICK HAGIN MEADE,Ballinteer, Dublin 16.Sir, – An Garda Síochána are clearly frustrated by the e- scooter debacle.The offending machines and some of their riders have the capability to escape from the law due to agility, speed and capacity to use tight routes of escape.Proposed new legislation will raise the legal age limit of users, reduce the speed capacity together with a number of other safety regulations, but will this action eradicate the offenders?Is now not the time for gardaí to be trained to utilise e-scooters themselves with machines with higher speed capacity, on board cameras etc?Then the playing pitch would be a lot more favourable for law enforcement. – Yours, etc,BRIAN MURPHY,Templeogue,Dublin. MetroLink costingsSir, – In the light of its experience of the national children’s hospital overspending fiasco, Mandy Williams is right to question whether the public can trust the State with another project of this scale (Letters, July 29th).As stated in your Editorial (July 10th,) the train may have left the station, but it has done so with only very rough estimates of what the final cost of the project is likely to be, estimates, moreover, which would appear to have been plucked out of the sky and are increasing by the week.Although not wishing to sound being overly cynical, it is hard to escape the conclusion that MetroLink could make the children’s hospital overspending fiasco look like a garden fete where someone was overcharged for the sandwiches. – Yours, etc,CHRISTOPHER HONE,Green Isle Road,Dublin 22.Sir, – The outlook for MetroLink is not reassuring, predicated mainly on delays, route and cost escalation.Now into my 80s, I wishfully think about the Centenarian Bounty, or a United Ireland citizenship; but riding MetroLink is seldom fancied. – Yours, etc, – Yours, etc,SÉAMUS PHELAN,Artane.Dublin 5.European newspapersSir, – With regard to the recent correspondence on modern languages, now that Ireland holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union, would it not be appropriate to have European newspapers and magazines once again on sale in this country? As far as I can remember, publications such as Le Monde and Der Spiegel, etc. disappeared from newsagents during the Covid epidemic, whereas English and American publications continue to be available. Is there any good reason for not also making publications in modern European languages available in Ireland? – Yours, etc, LIAM BREATNACH,Drumcondra,Dublin 9.Remembering Glen HansardSir, – I write to add my voice to the many mourning Glen Hansard and to share a small memory from over a decade ago.In 2013 my wife and I arrived early for one of his shows at the Melbourne Recital Centre. Moments after we sat down, a couple settled in beside us. As the man came down the aisle I recognised him at once and whispered to my wife, “That’s Eric Bana.” She looked blank. “The movie star,” I said, “the Incredible Hulk!” She considered this, and him, and replied, “He’s very good looking with lovely muscly arms, in fairness.”Glen would have none of us sitting still, and insisted the room stand. For the rest of the night, a Hollywood star and this Clareman abroad danced side by side with their wives – the kind of night only Glen Hansard could create. When theatre staff tried to end the gig, he played on regardless, leading the musicians down the staircase and out through the foyer still singing, to the bemusement of the Australian staff looking on.That was the thing about him: he drew people in, whoever they were and made a room feel like one family for the length of a song. He never forgot where he came from, and he never forgot the friends he’d lost too soon – he kept the music of Mic Christopher and Fergus O’Farrell alive long after the rest of the world had moved on.Dublin gave the world a busker from Ballymun who ended up with film stars in his audience and never once let it change him. He and his music will not be forgotten.Braithfimid uainn go deo é. – Yours, etc,JOHN GARVEY,BlackrockCo Dublin.Memories and special momentsSir, – I greatly enjoyed reading Michael Fitzpatrick’s article as he recalled special moments and meetings with his father during the latter’s visits to New York (“I got ‘the call’ from home. Dad’s days of wandering New York’s streets were over,” July 29th). My father also loved visiting when my family was living abroad and our “it could only have happened to Dad” memories are incredibly precious to me. Michael’s article reminded me what a gift it is to have those memories and also how important is to have some record of them either in written form, in photos – or, as is the case of my father – in small paintings he did of the various places we lived. Michael’s words are not just a beautiful depiction of a wonderful, warm man who made connections with everyone; they also ensure his own children will forever have wonderful stories and adventures to draw on when they dream of their grandfather. – Yours, etc,CAROLINE EAGLES,Co Down.