Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister and her officials for being here this evening and for sharing documents in advance of the meeting.

Free schoolbooks at primary level has been a fantastic initiative. The Minister is to be congratulated on it. It has been largely successful. A concern I have based on 16 years at the top of the classroom is that each year the large publishing companies, which we will not name, bring out revised editions. Question 8 could be changed and question 9 muddled around. Minor changes are made. We noticed in the past in our school that you put some down on the book list in June for the parents to buy and next thing parents come in and put the two books in front of you. They are almost identical. That is something parents and schools have grappled with, and we always worked our way around it. However, this time, the taxpayer is involved, as is the Department of Education. Does the Department have a lens trained on the publishers to ensure we get proper editions that are bang for your buck and that they are getting to schools on time?