Joe Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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Question 84: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if she will take action to prevent publishers of school books from reprinting text books with minor textual changes, forcing parents and schools to discard expensive books after a short period of time; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13030/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Syllabus planners are conscious of the need to avoid over frequent changes, primarily to minimise increases in the cost burden for parents. Apart from a small number of prescribed texts at second level, mainly in the case of language subjects, school books are not approved or prescribed by my Department at first or second level. The publication and sale of school books are in the hands of independent enterprises. Decisions on which books to use are taken at school level.

School authorities have been advised that books should be changed only to the extent that is absolutely necessary. However, textbooks must be changed periodically to enable students' work to be kept educationally stimulating and to ensure that content and methodology are kept up to date.

My Department operates a grant scheme towards the cost of providing school textbooks for pupils from low income families in schools at first and second level. For the purposes of these grants, a needy pupil is a pupil from a family where there is genuine hardship because of unemployment, prolonged illness of a parent, large family size with inadequate means, single parenthood, or other family circumstances, such as substance abuse, which would indicate a similar degree of financial hardship. Principal teachers administer the book grant schemes in schools in a flexible way under the terms of the schemes based on their knowledge of particular circumstances in individual cases. Many schools operate book rental schemes and second-hand book exchanges.

A total of €3,961,683.89 was paid by my Department in respect of the school books grant scheme in primary schools for the 2004-05 school year. This figure includes €3,272,733.40 in respect of the loan or rental scheme. The total expenditure in post-primary schools for the 2004-05 school year was €6,359,000, which includes €221,240.00 in respect of the book rental or loan schemes seed capital.