An arrangement was made through An Chomhairle Leabharlanna in 1971, whereby the local authority librarians would provide services for schools. At that time my Department made a grant available for this purpose based on the number of pupils enrolled in the schools in the local authority areas.
The amount of the grant payable to each local authority was based on the number of pupils in the relevant area and amounted to €4.52 per pupil. This is a relatively small amount in terms of the cost to Local Authorities of providing public library services.
The expenditure in 2008, which was the final year that funding was allocated, was €2.2m
The decision in the October 2008 budget to discontinue the funding that the Department made available to local authorities to support school library services was made against the backdrop of a very challenging economic situation.
As the Deputy is aware there are many competing demands for the available funding across the entire Education Sector including the need to increase capitation funding for schools and to continue to provide a comprehensive range of measures to support schools in dealing with the significant challenges posed by COVID-19. Priority must be given to these within the resources available to my Department.