Fr. Paul O'Connell:

Changes in the VAT rate would make an incredible difference for secondary schools. In a secondary school, a fill of oil could be €20,000, therefore, one could see the benefit of removing VAT.

I would like the committee to take into account that we have moved on from physical text books. In secondary schools, there have been significant developments in teaching methodologies. We have IT in our classrooms and textbooks are an aid and not the whole story. It is now apparent that e-books are the way of the future. With link-ups to credit unions and various bodies there is a possibility to make it a great deal cheaper for parents.