Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)

I am taking this matter on behalf of my colleague, Deputy Ruairí Quinn, the Minister for Education and Skills. I thank the Deputy for raising the matter and providing an opportunity to outline the position with regard to the cost of school books.

I am aware of the concern expressed by many parents and organisations, including the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, about the high cost of school books and the frequent rate of revisions by book publishers. In response to a recent parliamentary question, the Minister stated his intention to meet with book publishers and representatives of parents to discuss this important issue in greater detail. The Minister met with representatives of parents, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and the Irish Educational Publishers' Association on 22 June. All members of the Irish Educational Publishers' Association, including educate.ie, were invited to send a representative to the meeting with the Minister; however, no representative from that company expressed an interest in attending. The meetings provided an opportunity to obtain the views of these groups. At the meeting with publishers, the Minister urged them to minimise the number of changes in textbooks, to avoid the publication of new editions where only minor changes were involved and to consider closely the cost of the books they supply to the market. The publishers have agreed to reflect on the concerns raised by the Minister and he is currently awaiting a formal response from them.

The Minister is currently examining how best to encourage schools to establish book rental schemes, and has asked the National Parents' Council to provide him with examples of good practice they have encountered in this regard, which he intends to circulate to schools. The Department of Education and Skills has provided grants of €15 million this year to first- and second-level schools towards the cost of school books. Primary schools received a per capita grant of €11, or €21 in the case of pupils enrolled in DEIS schools, while second-level schools received a grant of €24 per pupil, or €39 in the respect of pupils enrolled in DEIS schools. Apart from a small number of prescribed texts at second-level, mainly in the case of language subjects, decisions on textbooks are taken at school level, so it may be necessary to encourage individual schools to take a more cost-conscious approach to the selection of books in their classes.

I sympathise with parents who are experiencing difficulty in paying for school books. The harsh economic reality means money is tight for many parents. It is for precisely for that reason the Minister will continue to encourage schools to establish book rental schemes as the most effective means of lowering the cost of books for all students. Many schools are already using the funding for books provided by the Department to operate successful rental schemes. I thank Deputy Healy-Rae for affording me the opportunity to respond on this matter.

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