Seanad debates
Wednesday, 21 June 2023
Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters
School Textbooks
10:30 am
John McGahon (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for taking this matter. The reason I am raising this in the House is as a result of a conversation with a long-time friend of mine, Tom Muckian, from Dundalk who is an independent bookseller in the town for more than two decades. He brought up three issues with the free books scheme from a bookseller's point of view. I am raising those three issues in the Seanad today, along with three potential solutions as to what the Government could do to make it that bit easier.
The first issue Tom brought to my attention was that not enough money was earmarked for the scheme in the first place. The figure used was a figure from Barnardos, which was about €96 per student. However, booksellers and schools have said that figure needs to be around €120 to €130 per pupil. That would guarantee that there would be no need for a contribution from parents towards a school, however voluntary a contribution it might be.
The second issue was that there was no clear instruction from the Department of Education to schools about how this scheme should be run. Some schools already have a book rental scheme and, naturally, they are in a much better position to take advantage of the scheme that has been introduced. Whereas schools that previously had no book rental scheme, or a limited service, are finding themselves short of funds and they are unclear as to whether they are setting up a book rental scheme or if they are simply buying books for students that are then passed on to the next year. The fact is that we do not know if this grant will keep coming year after year. I would really appreciate it if the Department could provide a greater clarity as to what schools need to do in the next two to three years.
The third issue is relevant to shops, and we are talking about independent bookshops here. At present, money is being given to the schools which approach suppliers for tender submissions. That is leading to a race to the bottom and in many cases shops are being asked to bear the brunt of the financial shortfall when tendering. It also places a disproportionate emphasis on price alone. No consideration is given to the sustainability of or the existing good service provided by local shops. For example, if a school in Dundalk has to go through a tender process and a place in Dublin, Cork, or Donegal offers bottom price, it is difficult to have to send the money there rather than to the local bookshop around the corner. That type of understanding of locality must be taken into account. I understand the tender process; I get that it has to be best value for money but it is unfair that we would be shipping money out of small towns where there are good local bookshops.
The three issues with the scheme are: first, it would be helpful if we increased the amount per pupil; second, it is about giving clarity to schools; and third, the tendering process should be cognisant of local shops.
The three solutions we might implement are as follows: I would take the advice of the schools and the publishers on the amount per student. The schools and the publishers are saying it is should be €120 to €130, so we should really look at that. We should give clear instructions as to the future of the scheme and how it should be implemented. As I said, that clarity would be really helpful. It would also be good to have some instruction that sustainability be a key part of the procurement process. It does not make any sense for a larger operator, who offers bottom price, to squeeze smaller or medium bookshops out of the market.
I have raised three issues with the scheme. They need to be teased out to make it an excellent scheme. However, these are three examples from independent booksellers who are dealing with this day in, day out. We need to try to fix this in order to have a really great scheme.
Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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I thank the Senator. He will be aware that the Department of Education's statement of strategy sets out the vision and mission of the Department for an educational system where every child and young person feels valued and is actively supported and nurtured in reaching their full potential. It sets as a goal to ensure equity of opportunity in education and that all pupils are supported to fulfil their potential. Since June 2020, and over the past three budgets, the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, has secured funding to support measures aimed at achieving that goal. As part of budget 2023, the Minister, Deputy Foley, announced more than €50 million to provide free books to primary school pupils within the free education scheme from September 2023. This significant investment further reflects the Government's commitment to equality, an inclusive school system, and to improving learning outcomes for every pupil. The Government recognises that the cost of preparing children for school each September can be a cause of financial difficulty and worry for many Irish families. This free school books scheme will eliminate the cost to these families for all school books, work books, and copy books at primary school. It delivers on the programme for Government commitment to extend the free school book pilot which ran in more than 100 DEIS primary schools over the past three years. The free primary school books scheme will benefit up to 558,000 pupils in approximately 3,230 recognised primary schools, including pupils in more than 130 special schools.
On 22 March, the Minister announced the details of the scheme and a comprehensive guidance to support schools in the implementation of the scheme was published and has issued to all primary and special schools. The implementation of the scheme will build on the existing school book rental scheme which is available in 96% of recognised primary schools and has been in place for many years. Schools are familiar with buying books directly from school book suppliers as part of the operation of the existing school book rental schemes and schools will continue to have autonomy to chose books that meet curricular requirements. I am aware the Department engaged with the various stakeholders as part of the development of the scheme. This included the primary education management bodies and unions, the National Parents Council, the Irish Educational Publishers' Association, Bookselling Ireland, Retail Ireland - IBEC, the Small Firms Association, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, and Barnardos. The Department also engaged with a number of schools which have experience of running book rental schemes, including some of the schools participating in the DEIS pilot free-book scheme to learn of their first-hand experience of operating a book rental scheme. This scheme is supported by Government funding of more than €53 million which has been issued to all primary and special schools to purchase all school books, work books, and copy books for their pupils in time for the start of the 2023-2024 school year.
The funding was paid at a rate of €96 per pupil in line with the validated enrolment figures for September 2022. The free books scheme will seek to ensure value for money is achieved and that schools will be supported to implement the scheme in a way that has the best learning outcomes for pupils. In recognition of the work required in schools associated with implementing the scheme, the Department has also put in place a grant payment for schools for administrative support. This grant, which is based on enrolment, can be used to employ an individual to work for a specified number of days from April through to August 2023, to carry out administrative work on this scheme. This additional grant will be paid to schools shortly. Full evaluation of the first year of implementation of the scheme will be undertaken in consultation with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform in order to inform the guidance implementation costs and efficiency of the scheme for future years.
I am acutely aware of the various costs placed upon families on the return of their children to school each September and this important new permanent measure will significantly reduce the back-to-school financial burden for many families.
John McGahon (Fine Gael)
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There are approximately 150 small independent bookshops right across this country. If we do not tinker with this scheme and fix it, it will push many of those bookshops, which are already operating on very fine financial margins, to the brink. If we can fix this scheme and tinker with it, with a couple of the suggestions I have made, it will make this a very profitable and very viable scheme for bookshops, and that is really what we want to do.Alternatively, there is a good scheme in the Italian education system where the department of education provides book vouchers to the parents through the schools. The parents take those vouchers and use them in their local shops. That is a good scheme that ensures business is being kept in those towns. It takes away the concept of a tender process where there is a race to the bottom and a big company or group can take over that market. I would appreciate it if we could look at this and fix these few issues.
Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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The introduction of the free primary schoolbooks scheme is a historic moment in education and helps us live up to the promise of free education. I thank the Senator for raising this matter and emphasise the significance of the funding for this groundbreaking scheme. I also acknowledge the enormous amount of work that has taken place since the scheme was announced in March. It is ongoing to ensure children and young people in primary and special school have books in place for the beginning of new school year.
I thank the Senator for making practical, positive suggestions for how to improve the scheme. I will bring them back to the Minister. The Department of Education would be wise to consider all the Senator's suggestions as part of the evaluation of the first full year of the scheme's operation.