Patrick Nulty (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 206: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide an estimate of the cost of the establishment of a fully stocked book rental scheme for all second level schools in the State system for all years and for all subjects; if he will provide an estimate of the ongoing running costs of such a national scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14121/12]

Patrick Nulty (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 207: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide an estimate of the cost of the establishment of a fully stocked book rental scheme for all primary level schools in the State system for all years and for all subjects; if he will provide an estimate of the ongoing running costs of such a national scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14122/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 206 and 207 together.

It is not possible to state what the cost of the establishment of a fully stocked book rental scheme for all primary and second level schools in the State system for all years and for all subjects would be due to the fact that not all schools provide or use the same textbooks and not all schools are the same size. There are differences in the cost of books from school to school, some schools use digital texts, some include workbooks in book rental schemes while others do not. However, one estimate available to my Department suggests that the overall size of the educational book market In Ireland is approximately €60 million. The book grant which my Department provides to schools is in the order of €15 million per annum. Very often the cost of books includes costs charged to students for photocopied sheets, materials for art and practical subjects and for copies, diaries, homework journals and stationery. In addition, most schools that operate a book rental scheme introduce the scheme on a phased basis. Ongoing running costs depend on the life span of each book and the costs of maintenance and replacement of books. These too vary from school to school.