Eamonn Maloney (Dublin South West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Minister and I, and everyone else in this House, is aware of the expensive nature of education in terms of school buildings, salaries, pensions etc. Primary and secondary education in particular is an expensive and extensive cost to the State, when one considers pay, pensions, school buildings etc., but I want to focus on a different aspect, that is, the cost to parents whose children attend both primary and secondary schools.

Regarding the cost of schoolbooks, I have long held the view that if the State and the Department of Education and Skills are to provide the buildings for schools and pay the salaries of those who teach in them why can they not do as has been done in other jurisdictions, namely, take responsibility for a tendering process for books? The most expensive item for a child going to primary or secondary school is the schoolbooks. They are particularly expensive in this jurisdiction vis-à-vis some of our European neighbours.

For instance, for children attending primary school in September, the individual starting cost is €350. That is probably not a lot of money for the upper class or those who are comfortably off, but for working class families, particularly with more than one child, it is an expensive outlay, and the outlay for secondary schools is almost twice that at around €770, according to the survey carried out by Barnardos last year.

This should not be franchised out to a collection of private companies that have some sort of a cartel going on the cost of these books. When we delve a little deeper to find out how much money is involved, It is not possible because the companies are not limited by guarantee. No Member of the Dáil or member of the public knows how much money these companies are making and I contend they are making an absolute fortune. We should be on the side of the parents and children and face down the book publishers. Thanks to the article by Nicola Byrne in the Irish Mail on Sunday, we know that not only are we dealing with Irish companies that do not produce any accounts but that these companies are farming out the printing of the books to outside of Europe, having them printed at rock bottom prices. That is not, however, reflected in the price parents must pay when they send their children to school in September. The Department of Education and Skills should take the side of the parents and children and exercise some control over this.

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