Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)

I thank the Deputy for raising these matters in a supplementary question. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul, the National Parents Council and others have raised two issues with me. One is the frequent change of books on the curriculum and so-called revised editions where the amount of revision is minimal. I met the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, the National Parents Council and representatives of the publishers and will meet them again. We will be actively exploring with effect from the following academic year the benefits of a book lending scheme in schools.

If one has two or three children, one frequently finds that a book the eldest child was using for geography is not the same as that required for the youngest, even though the rivers and mountains of Ireland have not changed in the meantime. There are similar concerns in respect of uniforms, where parents have to buy them from a designated vendor. Generic grey, blue, green and red uniforms are sold in large retail stores and if schools confined themselves to selling their badge or emblem, we could seriously address the cost issues. I am actively exploring those areas.

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