Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

For a great number of parents the school year begins when the summer holidays begins because the implications of the costs of returning to school begin to exert pressure at that point. Child benefit has increased and access to free GP care for younger children is a saving to parents. We strongly support any measures that can be taken to reduce uniform costs for parents, including measures such as generic uniforms or those onto which the crest can be sewn. The Minister for Education is looking to introduce a stronger complaints procedure and a charter for parents. It is very necessary that during the course of the school year the school management and school authorities discuss with parents the projections for the following year. Where costs can be reduced, there is a saving all round.

Regarding textbook costs, an agreement was reached with the Irish Educational Publishers Association a number of years ago by the former Minister, Ruarí Quinn, which resulted in the agreement of a code of practice in this area. That code commits the publishers to limit the publication of new editions and to maintain editions of books in print unchanged for at least six years so that there is a clear follow-through. The publishers have also given clear assurances that they will sell textbooks to schools at discounts so that schools can purchase textbooks in bulk to stock book rental schemes, which are an important way of reducing costs for students as well. Book rental schemes are clearly the most effective method of reducing the cost of school books for parents across the country.

Since 2011, school book grants have been protected. There has also been an increase in the investment to ensure that all primary schools can offer book rental schemes. There was €6.7 million spent in 2014 to give seed capital to 400 schools in the primary sector that do not have book rental schemes so that they could establish them, and in 2015 and this year we have been increasing that investment to give additional support to other schools which already had book rental schemes established before that point to allow them to expand their schemes. There has been a €15.6 million investment specifically on expanding book rental schemes in primary schools over these three years, and that is on top of the €15 million that was spent on book grants for all schools which can be used for the maintenance and upkeep of the book rental stock. Returns for September 2015 indicate that 94% of primary schools and 65% of post-primary schools operate a book rental scheme.

Finally, the Minister published last week the schools admission Bill, which prohibits the charging of fees or seeking of payment or contribution as part of the school admission process or for continued enrolment in the school, which is a further saving, recognising that this was an imposition on parents.

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