Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 351: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the policy of her Department in respect of schools requesting students to purchase new textbooks where the book in question may be only two or three years old; if her attention has been drawn to the considerable financial hardship this places on parents in terms of constantly changing textbooks; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26934/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Apart from a small number of prescribed texts at second-level, mainly in the case of language subjects, decisions on which textbooks to use in first and second-level schools are taken at school level. Syllabus planners are conscious of the need to avoid over-frequent changes to textbooks, primarily in order to minimise increases in the cost burden for parents. However, textbooks have to be changed periodically to enable teachers to keep their students' work educationally stimulating and to ensure that content and methodology are kept up to date. School authorities have been advised that books should be changed only to the extent that is absolutely necessary.

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. Schools are notified of the scheme each year by circular letter. 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. My Department will provide funding amounting to some €13.8m under the schemes in 2007.