Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the representatives of the various bodies for coming before the committee. Ms Lynch referred to €5 million for schoolbooks and I ask Mr. Loftus to clarify an issue. I understood that €5 million would be available every year for the next three years, giving a total of €15 million. When I discussed this issue with the Minister, he said the €15 million would be sufficient to ensure that every school could put a schoolbook rental scheme in place by the end of this Government's term.

In the context of some of the comments by representatives of the JMB, I fully accept that schools are not being funded adequately by the Department and that parents are being asked to make up the shortfall. No one will argue with that basic point. On the question of e-books, the representatives are correct in their contention that it is our responsibility, as legislators, to deal with the issues of VAT and licensing. We have raised this matter with the Department and there are some issues with the VAT in the context of EU law, but I fully accept it is our problem.

I was surprised by the tone of the JMB's response to the committee today. Fr. Connell said the committee did not take on board much of what was said during our earlier hearings, but I disagree with that point. The committee took on board a lot of what was said at those hearings. On the question of school uniforms, the witness said it was alarming to discover that committee members demonstrate a lack of understanding of the respective statutory roles of patrons and management boards. He cited the Education Act of 1998, section 15 of which reads, "It shall be a duty of a board to manage a school on behalf of a patron and for the benefit of students and their parents". In the section of the JMB submission referring to book rental schemes and the allocation of text books, it is stated the JMB is the main decision-making and negotiating body for the management authorities of almost 400 Catholic schools. Is the JMB suggesting there is no role whatsoever for patrons in terms of school uniform policy and that it is solely up to the boards of management to make decisions on that issue?

The JMB asserts in its submission that this committee ignored a number of significant factors impacting on school uniform decisions, one of which is the fact that more expensive jumpers and so forth are generally multi-year items, while cheaper versions require frequent replacement. As a parent, I can tell the JMB representatives that is not the case. My children have to get a new school uniform every year and those uniforms are damned expensive. The school uniform consists of crested jumpers, tracksuits, coats and pinafores. There is no option in the schools my children attend to purchase generic school uniforms. A school jumper alone costs approximately €50 and one is lucky to get a year out of it. I do not agree that more expensive jumpers are generally multi-year items. That is simply not the case. I am not too sure what the witnesses mean by their assertion that we cannot rely on big department stores for continuity and I ask them to clarify that comment.

The submission concludes by suggesting that keeping recommendations grounded in the real world would be more helpful.

Would Fr. Connell point out the recommendations in the report that are not grounded in the real world so that the committee can take the opportunity to revisit them?