Vol. 512 No. 3
294 Mrs. B. Moynihan-Cronin asked the Minister for Education and Science the proposals, if any, he has to increase funding for the school books for needy grant schemes for disadvantaged schools; if his attention has been drawn to the hardship being caused to low income families due to the low level of grant aid and the high cost of school books; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25808/99]
I appreciate, of course, that costs associated with the purchase of school books can place a financial burden on parents. To alleviate such burdens, my Department operates a grant scheme towards the cost of providing school textbooks for needy pupils in primary and post-primary schools. For the purposes of these grants, a needy pupil is a pupil from a family where there is genuine hardship because of unemployment, prolonged illness of a parent, large family size with inadequate means, singe parenthood, or other family circumstances, such as substance abuse, which would indicate a similar degree of financial hardship.
Principal teachers administer the book grant schemes in schools in a flexible way under the terms of the schemes based on their knowledge of particular circumstances in individual cases.
A consultancy report, which was submitted to my Department in 1993, dealt with the factors which contribute to the cost of school text books. The main conclusion of the report was that book rental schemes are the most practical way of limiting the cost of school books to parents.
The report, copies of which were sent to all schools, contains a number of useful suggestions, including a code of good practice for successful operation of book rental schemes. My Department endorses the recommendations and urges school authorities to put in place book rental schemes to the greatest extent possible.
