A new report for the Department of Education says the country's private fee-paying schools have more than €80 million a year extra to spend on their students. 

It also says that the cost of all 55 fee-paying schools entering the free scheme would be €23.5 million - much lower than previous estimates. 

The taxpayer forks out €100 million for the salaries of teachers - the Bord Snip Nua report recommended cutting taxpayer funding by paying for less teachers - and the department report says if this was done the 55 schools would still have over €61 million in discretionary spending.

However the body that represents the 55 private schools says the cost to the state of educating a child in a fee paying school is almost half that of a free school.

The Joint Managerial Body says this is a significant saving to the state.

In a statement this morning Ferdia Kelly General Secretary of the JMB says if the parents of the 26,000 young people in private school, transferred their children to free schools, the state will incur the costs of the teachers' salaries, the capital costs for buildings, and capitation grants for the running of the school.

He says a core principle of the Irish education system is the right of parental choice and fee-paying schools are part of the exercise of that choice.