Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise the free school books scheme, as announced in budget 2023. The scheme was presented as a universal measure from which all families and children would benefit in a €9.6 billion budget in the Department of Education. A total of over €50 million is being spent on free books but this does not apply to children in fee-paying schools. We have just heard from the Taoiseach in the Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality, who spoke about gender budgeting and universal measures that benefit gender budgeting. Could the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform look again at this scheme, calculate the additional money that would be needed to make it universal and to include all children and explain the rationale for leaving those children out when their parents are taxpayers and this was presented as a universal measure?

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