Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for the response and doing the work for me in that he contacted the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, as well. I appreciate his proactive work.

Our public libraries are great facilities for all our kids and they play a role in making books available to all our students across cities and counties. I am speaking about libraries in schools specifically because, as I said, if kids are surrounded by books they are more likely to take up a book themselves. It is common sense but it is a fact.

We repeatedly emphasise the importance of literacy and improving literacy levels. We are lucky that in Ireland we have among the highest literacy rates in the world. We should be proud of that and maintain those levels. It is why this minor programme, at €2.2 million in the overall context of a budget overseen either by the Minister for Rural and Community Development or the Minister for Education, is worth pursuing. In a school with 300 students, it amounts to a cost of approximately €1,200 or €1,500. It is a fairly minor cost. It is irrelevant to me whether the funding comes from the Department of Rural and Community Development or the Department of Education once the provision is made. It could even come through the school grant system that is up and running. It would not be an issue for me.

It should also be said in the context of Covid-19 that the provision of books, reading and allowing kids in particular to explore alternative realities or fantasies gets them off computers or Xboxes, etc. There is also a link to children's health and mental health and well-being as it provides an escape for them.

As I said to begin with, I commend Children's Books Ireland, which is funded under the arts bursaries and grants, on the work done on the area. I can leave this with one final and startling statistic. The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals recommends an average stock of 13 books per pupil or 17 books per pupil aged over 16 but most Irish schools fail to meet that threshold. The Department and the Government should show impetus and stop depending on teachers to put their hands in their pockets to provide something the Government should be doing.

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