Vol. 432 No. 1
86 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Minister for Education the arrangements, if any, that will operate in the coming school year to assist needy pupils with the purchase of school books; the amount that will be allocated at primary and second level; the amount per pupil this represents; her views on whether this amount is adequate; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
The scheme of aid towards the cost of school textbooks for needy pupils this year is unchanged from previous years. The scheme is administered through school Principals, who have discretion in the selection of pupils to be assisted, the amount of assistance to be given to the pupil and the form such assistance will take, subject to the amount of money made available to each school which is based on the number of pupils defined as needy.
At first level the rates of grant for 1993 are of the order of £10 per needy pupil in classes I-IV and £5.50 per pupil in Infant Classes. At second-level, there is no fixed amount per pupil.
I am very conscious of the financial demands made on parents of school pupils in providing school textbooks for their children. In an effort to alleviate this burden I obtained an increase of £200,000 in the provision for this scheme at primary level, bringing the allocation for 1993 to a level of £1,647,000. At second level I secured an increase of £212,000 bringing this year's overall allocation at second level to £2,809,000.
