Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Question 39: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the average cost of a set of text books for the three years of the junior certificate; the role his Department has in recommending, directing or otherwise authorising official texts books for each subject of the junior certificate course; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26077/08]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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My Department does not have information on the average cost of a set of text books for the three years of the Junior Certificate cycle.

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. My Department does not approve, commission, sponsor or endorse educational text-books. Books are commissioned and published by educational publishers, and schools select their books from those available from a number of publishers.

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. Many schools operate book rental schemes and second-hand book exchanges.

A total of €8m has been provided in my Department's Estimate in 2008 in respect of the School Books Grant Scheme at second-level.