Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 291: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the annual cost of printing reports by his Department and agencies under the control of his Department; the corresponding figure for annual reports; the cost of posting these reports; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2538/09]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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In 2008, the total cost of printing reports by my Department, including the cost of design work prior to printing, was €338,524.89. This figure is inclusive of €22,577.05 for the design and printing of annual reports including the Department's Annual Statistical Report.

The amount spent by my Department on posting reports to schools etc. cannot be separated from the overall cost of postage including bulk postage issued from my Department. My Department's total expenditure on bulk postage, which is the general means of distributing reports, was €1,655,664.61 in 2008. This figure includes the cost of posting a variety of materials to schools and teachers including payslips (approximately 2.1 million payslips are issued annually), publications, circulars etc. It should also be noted that my Department agrees on occasion to circulate relevant materials produced by other organisations to schools, and that therefore the postage cost given above does not exclusively relate to material emanating from my Department.

My Department regularly reviews its postage arrangements with a view to achieving maximum value for money. In this regard, my Department introduced a system of regular bulk mailings to schools in order to avail of discounted rates and to minimise postal costs. In addition, the roll-out of the Department's Online Claims System, which enables schools to submit claims electronically to the Department, has resulted in a reduction in postage costs at both Department and school level of approximately €500,000 per annum. In a further effort to reduce the costs of printing and distribution of publications in 2009 it is now corporate policy within my Department that all publications will be web based and will only be printed and distributed by post in exceptional circumstances.

With regard to bodies under the aegis of my Department the expenditure incurred in relation to printing costs is a matter for each agency and this information is not collated centrally.