Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I have seen the report of the Irish League of Credit Unions to which the Deputy refers. I thank the Deputy for raising this issue as it is hugely important for parents throughout Ireland. I welcome the opportunity to debate it in the House.

Everybody accepts that back to school costs place a burden on families. The Government is taking action to help reduce those costs and to provide direct support to those families that need it most. There are four areas I wish to mention - the cost of school books, the cost of uniforms, voluntary contributions and the payment of back to school allowances.

With regard to textbook costs, an agreement was reached by my predecessor with the Irish Educational Publishers' Association which resulted in the agreement of a code of practice. The code commits the publishers to limit the publication of new editions and to maintaining editions of books in print unchanged for at least six years. The publishers have also given assurances that they will sell textbooks to schools at discounts so schools can purchase textbooks in bulk to stock book rental schemes.

Book rental schemes are the most effective method of reducing the cost of school books for parents across the country. Since we came into Government, school book grants have been protected, and we also increased the investment to ensure that all schools can offer book rental schemes. We spent approximately €6.7 million in 2014 to give seed capital to 400 schools that do not have book rental schemes so they could establish them. In 2015 and 2016, we are increasing that investment to give additional support to the other schools which already had book rental schemes established before that point, to allow them to expand their schemes. In total, we have invested €15.6 million specifically on expanding book rental schemes over these three years. This is on top of the €15 million spent annually on book grants for schools, which can be used for the maintenance and upkeep of book rental stock.

The National Parents' Council surveyed the views of its members on the book rental schemes that are currently operating. Parents have reported that where book rental schemes operate, they are open to all parents in 95% of cases and that the cost per child is under €40 per year in a considerable majority of schools. Perhaps most tellingly, the survey found that 93% of parents believe that book rental schemes help with the costs of educating a child. The Government has shown a clear commitment to investing in book rental schemes, and we have every intention of continuing to do so.

School uniforms are a more challenging area, and I am aware that Deputy O'Brien has made some suggestions in that regard. Obviously the approach we are taking on book rental schemes cannot be replicated for school uniforms. Nevertheless, I strongly believe that lowering costs should be the primary factor in school uniform policies. Individual schools have the right to decide on their policy in this area, but I am anxious to have greater consultation and the involvement of parents in these decisions. I recall the frustration of stitching a school crest onto a jumper each year as my son grew bigger over the years. Many other parents are obliged to do that where the school has an embedded school crest on the school uniform. I do not believe there should be such crests. A generic option should be chosen.

My focus is on giving parents a greater say in school policies that affect them. I will be working in the coming months on a parents and students charter that will give a greater role to parents in formulating policies such as these. As the Deputy suggested, perhaps a Minister can be more clear in terms of directing schools but a parents and students charter will give more clout, as it were, to parents in this regard.

Regarding voluntary contributions, we all know that these are requested by many, but not all, schools in Ireland. One point on which the Deputy will agree is that there is a clear need for parents to know that such contributions must be voluntary. There can be no compunction involved. My Department is ready and willing to take action where there are any allegations of pressure on parents or students. I am anxious to see the reliance on voluntary contributions in schools diminished.

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