Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 6 July 2023
216. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Education if a person (details supplied) might qualify for assistance towards schoolbooks given that they are not currently in receipt of a payment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33391/23]
View answerAs Minister for Education, I believe it is crucially important that children and young people are actively supported to access education in its fullest forms. This Government recognises that the cost of preparing children for school each September can be a cause of financial difficulty and worry for many Irish families.
Earlier this year I announced the establishment of Ireland’s first national primary school book scheme. More than 558,000 pupils enrolled in approximately 3,230 primary schools, including over 130 special schools, will benefit from this new measure. In March, the Department issued extensive guidance to schools on the operation of the scheme.
At a minimum, the scheme will provide free schoolbooks, workbooks and copybooks for all children and young people in recognised primary schools and special schools. Parents, including the parent in question who I understand has primary school-going children, should not be asked to purchase, or to make a contribution to the school towards the cost of, schoolbooks, workbooks or copybooks. Schools have received €96 per pupil and this is paid based on pupil enrolment figures.
The implementation of the measure builds on the experience of school book rental schemes currently in place for a number of years in 96% of primary schools and on the learning from the free school books pilot provided for the past three school years in over 100 DEIS primary schools.
Primary schools and special schools will continue to have autonomy to choose books that meet their curricular requirements. The scheme will seek to ensure that value for money is achieved and that primary schools and special schools will be supported to implement the scheme in a way that delivers the best learning outcomes for pupils.
My Department engaged with all relevant stakeholders as to how the scheme will operate. These included: primary school management bodies, unions, the National Parents Council Primary, representatives of booksellers and schoolbook publishers, IBEC, Retail Ireland, the Small Firms Association, Barnardos and the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul. My Department also engaged with a number of schools, including some of the primary schools participating in the DEIS pilot free book scheme, to learn of their first-hand experience of operating a book rental scheme.
A full evaluation of the first year of implementation of the scheme will be undertaken in consultation with the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform, to inform the guidance, implementation, costs and efficiency of the scheme for future years.
As Minister for Education, I am acutely aware of the various costs faced by families upon the return of their children to school each September and am confident that this new provision will significantly reduce the back to school financial burden for many families.
