Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 October 2023
45. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education the engagement that her Department has had with school book publishers and the booksellers' associations regarding the Budget announcement of the extension of the school book grant scheme. [45130/23]
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.
As part of Budget 2023, I announced a major investment of over €50 million to provide free schoolbooks in recognised primary schools and special schools. This was a landmark moment in Irish education and one that furthers our goal to provide free education for all and ensure that every child can benefit from free education.
The introduction of this measure directly addressed our commitment under the Programme for Government to commence a free schoolbooks scheme pilot in September 2020 and expand the scheme to schools nationwide, as resources allow.
The Free Primary Schoolbook Scheme has resulted in over 558,000 pupils in over 3,230 recognised primary schools, including over 130 special schools benefitting from free schoolbooks and classroom resources from this September.
To further the delivery of our important government commitment, last week I announced that funding is allocated under Budget 2024 to extend the free schoolbooks scheme to all students in junior cycle years in public post primary schools. The total funding available for this extension of the scheme is €67 million.
The grant for this scheme will be paid based on the previous year’s validated enrolment figures which, for the 2024/25 school year, will be the enrolment numbers for the current 2023/24 school year.
The most recent validated enrolment figures which is held by my Department on junior cycle enrolments show that 208,736 students were enrolled in junior cycle years in the 2022/23 school year.
It is estimated that up to 213,000 students, in over 670 schools across all counties, will benefit from this new measure, which will commence from September 2024.
Guidance on the new junior cycle free schoolbooks scheme will be developed over the coming period as part of our engagement process with stakeholders. My officials have been engaging with all relevant stakeholders, including the Irish Education Publishers Association (IEPA) and Bookselling Ireland, in the context of the implementation of the primary free book scheme and further engagement will shortly commence around the roll out of the new scheme. This will include schools, parent and management bodies and representatives for Irish education book publishers and book shops, as well as Society of Saint Vincent De Paul and Barnardos.
My Department will continue to listen to the valuable input from all stakeholders, on their experiences from the primary scheme as well as insights into how a similar scheme will operate in post primary schools.
The scheme will aim to ensure that value for money is achieved, and that schools will be supported to implement the scheme in a way that has the best learning outcomes for junior cycle students. Similar to the scheme at primary level, administrative supports will be provided to schools in order to roll out the scheme.
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 further and significantly reduce the back to school financial burden for many families.
