Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)

In regard to Deputy O'Donovan's question, I met the publishers and they have entered into a voluntary code of practice. They will not change textbooks that are less than four years old and will maintain a supply after that point to avoid the chopping and changing to which the Deputy referred. I remind him, however, that schools and individual teachers decide on the books and this is why I have encouraged schools to introduce book rental schemes. If a maths teacher wants to change a textbook for a second year course, 60 books may be required if there are two streams in the school. The book rental scheme would act as a deterrent to chopping and changing. I have seen examples of the same book being presented with different illustrations or other cosmetic changes. We are trying to deal with the matter but we have no responsibility as such for the textbooks and it is a matter for the teachers themselves to change them.

I am not clear on the position regarding the difficulty in sourcing Project Maths material as Gaeilge. As Deputy Crowe will possibly be aware, I have a very good working relationship with my counterpart, the Minister for Education in Northern Ireland, John O'Dowd, MLA. I will make contact with him to find out whether he is experiencing similar difficulties and if we can devise a joint response.

See this speech in context