Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 13 November 2013

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Social Protection

Back-to-School Costs and Schoolbook Rental Schemes: Discussion

1:55 pm

Photo of Averil PowerAveril Power (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will be brief. I wish to ask one question and make a comment. Much of the debate has been around a form of words which were used in a report. It is important that this is done in a collegiate way. It is fair to acknowledge that it is not the committee's job to fund schools but it is its job to give a balanced report of why schools are in the present situation. We need to work on amending the wording to ensure we reflect that because principals are working in a difficult situation, as are all school staff, as a result of other funding cuts. They are at the front line and must deal every day with parents of children, bills they cannot pay, fund-raising and asking parents for money for which they wish they did not have to ask. We need to find a way around this difficulty. I acknowledge the work Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin has put into this report on which he has been working for a long time. We need to find a form of words that can accommodate everybody and recognise that is the other half of the picture. It is not fair for us to criticise schools without acknowledging they are working in an environment where they have seen their funding cut quite dramatically.

I wish to put one question to the Department officials. If I do not get to hear their response I will read it in the transcript. A good point was made on e-books, a point we have discussed previously at the committee. There does not appear to have been any move by the Government to address the issue of technology. Some schools will look at this and ask what is the point in buying a load of books if nobody will be using them in two years time. There is good practice for buying not just iPads, which are expensive, but other tablets can be bought quite cheaply. We are in a bizarre situation where it can sometimes cost more to buy a book electronically than a new paper copy of that same book. That is crazy. We have to find a way through that. Within schools we should be at the forefront of technological change and ensuring we use it to educational advantage. It addresses all the other issues we have discussed previously about children carrying heavy schoolbags and so on. I appreciate that the VAT rate is an issue for the Department of Finance. I know there are European implications and so on, but I would like to see more of a push on it at departmental level. Is this an issue that has been discussed by the Department of Education and Skills and the Department of Finance in the context of budget discussions or elsewhere? It is an important point and a solution to many issues, and it should be recognised as such. In our report I would hope we would make a recommendation that the e-books issue be pushed strongly.

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