Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

I am not a doctor. I cannot vouch for whatever damage might be done, but I appreciate that schoolbags are very heavy. Parents could not be reasonably expected to buy two sets of books for their children to have one set at school and one at home.

Deputy Stanton asked about requesting publishers to publish lighter-weight books. The demand for high quality books is such that all the textbooks are colourful and contain many maps, drawings, pictures and photographs, which make learning easier.

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