asked the Minister for Education if he will state the number of applications received to date from pupils or their parents or guardians for the supply of books under the Free School Books Scheme, and the number of these applications which have been granted.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Free School-Books Scheme.
asked the Minister for Education if he will state in respect of the Free School Books scheme (a) the number and total value of books supplied to date, (b) the amount of the contributions made by the pupils towards the cost of these books, and (c) the amount of other contributions received from local sources.
I propose to answer questions 1 and 2 together. State grants amounting to £12,250 have, so far, been paid under this scheme for the current school year to the managers of 2,764 schools.
The detailed information asked for by the Deputy is available only through the records of the schools. These are open to be checked by the inspectors, but in view of the time and labour which it would involve I am not prepared to order its collation.
Mr. Byrne
Could the Minister give us any idea of the proportion of applications received?
No. The scheme is such that we have not got records of it in that form at headquarters.