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Seanad Éireann debate -
Thursday, 3 Jul 2014

Vol. 232 No. 12

Adjournment Matters

Back to School Costs

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Ciarán Cannon.

I, too, welcome the Minister of State. As he will be aware, despite the fact that the school holidays have only commenced, issues surrounding the back to school clothing and footwear scheme are arising already. This is a particularly stressful and arduous time for families and parents and many thousands of children benefit from the scheme annually. My concern is those families who, because of income thresholds, do not qualify for or benefit from this worthy scheme. I am speaking about working parents with two or three children of schoolgoing age who are faced on an annual basis with hefty costs in the purchase of school books. I have already been contacted by a number of parents who, while they understand they must pay for school books for their children, still cannot fathom why so many schools still do not operate the school book rental scheme. I understand the Department of Education and Skills, with the Minister, has been pioneering the scheme and that €15 million has been set aside this year for it.

What continues to baffle and astound me and parents is the reason textbooks change from one year to the next, such that siblings in second and third year cannot pass on school books to their younger brothers and sisters on entering first year. This is no longer acceptable. Despite repeated efforts to address this issue, it is still ongoing. There is no good reason school books, if properly maintained, cannot be passed between siblings in the secondary school system. Many working families will have to forgo many things this summer, including, perhaps, a holiday, in order to put money aside for school books, the cost of which can amount to hundreds of euro per child. The cost of school books for two or three children in secondary school and, perhaps, older children starting college is a heavy burden on families. I would welcome a response from the Minister of State on the efforts being made by the Department to alleviate this cost and improve access to the school book rental scheme. Will he indicate how many schools countrywide are operating the scheme, giving a county by county breakdown, and why particular schools are not availing of it when it is available to them?

I thank the Senator for raising this issue as it affords me an opportunity to outline to the House the position on the cost of school books. The Government shares the concern expressed by him and many parents about the high costs associated with children's attendance in school. In this regard, the Minister for Education and Skills has undertaken a number of initiatives to help to reduce the burden on parents. In relation to textbook costs, the Minister met the Irish Educational Publishers Association which resulted in the association agreeing to a voluntary code of practice. The code commits publishers to limiting the publication of new editions and maintaining editions of books in print unchanged for at least six years. This addresses one of the concerns expressed by the Senator. The Minister, when publishing the code, outlined that if publishers did not see fit to adhere to it voluntarily, there were other options open to him to ensure they did so. The publishers have also given assurances that they will sell textbooks to schools at a discount in order that schools can purchase textbooks in bulk to stock textbook rental schemes.

The Department provides approximately €15 million per annum for primary and second level schools towards the provision of school books. A grant of €11 per pupil is provided for primary schools, with DEIS schools receiving €21 per pupil. At second level, a grant of €24 per pupil is available, with DEIS schools receiving €39 per pupil. The Minister has identified book rental schemes as the most effective method of reducing the costs of schools books. In January 2013 he launched Guidelines for Developing Textbook Rental Schemes in Schools and a Guide for Parents. These guidelines encourage this practice across all schools on the education landscape.

First and second level schools were asked to make returns to the Department on book rental schemes as part of their annual returns. Information provided for the Department for September 2013 shows a high level of book rental schemes in operation. At primary level, 84% of schools operate book rental schemes, while at second level 68% of schools reported that they operated such schemes. In budget 2014 funding of €15 million over three years was provided to support the establishment of book rental schemes in primary schools that did not operate them. To establish book rental schemes, DEIS schools will receive €150 per child, while non-DEIS schools will receive €100 per child in seed capital in the next two years. This will cost approximately €6.7million of the €15 million secured in the three year period 2014 to 2016.

For primary schools with book rental schemes in place, the Minister re-examined the scheme to see if such schools could also be allocated funding. The balance of €8.3 million will be divided in 2015 and 2016 among primary schools that currently operate book rental schemes, with DEIS schools to receive €20 per pupil and non-DEIS schools €18 per pupil in these two years. Every primary school has been given the opportunity to benefit from the funding secured for the school book rental scheme.

There are some interesting developments emerging in primary schools, in particular, but also in post-primary schools, with teachers and pupils collaborating to generate their own learning content primarily through digital devices such as tablets, netbooks and so on.

I envisage a time, perhaps in the not too distant future, when there will be an opportunity for teachers to collaborate in generating their own learning content and not require the use of school books in certain school settings when studying certain school subjects.

I again thank the Senator for affording me the opportunity to respond to this matter.

I thank the Minister of State for a comprehensive response. I am heartened to see the commitment of the Minister to the book rental scheme, of which there is a good take-up across the country. However, there are blind spots and schools that are reluctant; therefore, some effort and co-operation are required between management of a school, the teachers, parents and students. Perhaps the Minister of State might make available in due course a list of the schools, on a county by county basis, that are availing of the scheme. We could use it as a means of encouraging parents, in collaboration with school authorities, to encourage the schools that have not yet embraced the scheme to do so. It would be a great relief to parents and help to offset this annual cost for families.

We will endeavour to provide that list. Early in the process, when establishing what schools operated schemes, we surveyed the full school system but did not receive a full response. However, we will make whatever information we have available to the Senator in the near future.

Free Travel Scheme Eligibility

I welcome the Minister of State. In view of the recent kite flying by the Opposition, I hope he will provide clarity on the free travel pass issue. Will he confirm that the current review of the system is not due to any wish on the part of the Government to withdraw the pass, but rather that it wishes to review the operation of the scheme to ensure the avoidance of fraud and in the context of the provision of the service via private operators?

The scheme permits free travel on most CIE public transport services, the Luas and a range of services offered by over 90 private operators in various parts of the country at an annual cost to the Exchequer of €77 million. There are in excess of 745,000 customers eligible for the free pass and when spousal and companion passes are included, that figure increases to 1.1 million, or almost 20% of the population. The fact that the Government is reviewing the scheme does not mean that it is to be withdrawn. Every scheme operated by the State must be subject to constant review in terms of efficiency and protection against fraud. Not to do so would be irresponsible on the part of the Government.

Under the Programme for National Recovery, increases in subventions for private operators were frozen. It is also the case that no new operators were allowed to join the scheme. Given the state of the public finances at the time, that decision was warranted. In these circumstances, I can understand why private operators might have a difficulty, given that inflation, although low, has eaten into the moneys they receive to provide the service in recent years. A review is, therefore, necessary.

There has been speculation on another issue in recent days, on which the Minister of State might give the House the benefit of his thinking, the issue of means testing. Will he confirm, for the avoidance of doubt, that no such action is envisaged?

I thank the Senator for raising this matter on the Adjournment and giving me the opportunity to clarify the position.

The free travel scheme is available to all people living in the State aged 66 years or over, carers and customers under 66 years of age who are in receipt of certain disability type payments. The scheme permits customers to travel for free on most CIE public transport services, the Luas and a range of services offered by up to 90 private operators in various parts of the country. Customers of the scheme over 66 years of age who are married, cohabiting or in a civil partnership receive a pass that allows their spouse, civil partner or cohabitant to travel with them for free. Certain customers can receive a companion pass which allows any person over the age of 16 years to accompany them for free.

Free travel is also available on cross-Border journeys to and from Northern Ireland. The all-Ireland free travel scheme allows a free travel pass holder, aged 66 years and older, to travel free of charge on all bus and rail services within Northern Ireland using a senior smartpass card. Similarly, Northern Ireland senior smartpass holders are entitled to travel for free on services in Ireland using their existing senior smartpass.

When the free travel scheme was introduced in 1967, it was a scheme for old age pensioners and blind pensioners. At the time of its introduction, the then Minister for Finance described the objective of the scheme as being to "relieve the difficult circumstances of old people who live alone" by giving them "additional help by way of free electricity and transport." In 1972 the scheme was extended to people aged 70 years and over. Although 70 years of age was pension age at the time, this extension also removed the requirement for people to be in receipt of the old age pension or any other social welfare payment to qualify for free travel. The age at which free travel was available to all was reduced several times until finally it was reduced to the age of 66 years in 1977.

In 2001 there were 608,000 customers covered by the free travel scheme; today there are 780,000. This represents an increase of almost 30%. In 2001 the scheme cost approximately €46 million per year; in 2014 it will cost €77 million, an increase of 65%. As the House will be aware, funding for scheme was frozen by the previous Government at 2010 levels of expenditure, as outlined in the national recovery plan 2011 to 2014 and the budget for 2011. During this period the Department has, therefore, not been in a position to increase the level of payments in excess of this level of expenditure or to accept additional routes or providers within the scheme.

Given the increasing number of recipients and the funding pressures, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport and the Minister for Social Protection established a working group with representatives of the two Departments, as well as of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the National Transport Authority, to review the free travel scheme. The purpose of the review is "to examine and report on the current operation and future development of the free travel scheme". While the interdepartmental working group has been tasked with ensuring "that its recommendations have regard to the likely impact on costs both immediate and into the future", it had no specific mandate to identify potential savings based on current funding levels. The work of the group is expected to conclude shortly. The Minister will examine its report as soon as it is available.

The Government appreciates the importance of the free travel scheme and the value it provides for the hundreds of thousands of mostly elderly people who use it. The Government has no plans to take passes away from pensioners. We must ensure the scheme which has been in operation for almost 50 years can continue to operate in an efficient and sustainable way into the future.

I thank the Minister of State. I am sure many people will be glad to hear that there are no plans to remove the free travel pass from those who are eligible for it. When the review has been completed, I would appreciate it if the Minister of State returned to the House to report to us on it.

The Seanad adjourned at 3.10 p.m. until 12.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 8 July 2014.
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