Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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227. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills her views that money on the school book rental scheme would be better spent on a single contract for the provision of free school books and interactive e-books for all school children, in view of the fact that private book publishing companies claim that they could provide such a service for the equivalent budget of the current scheme, which only assists some children; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13681/15]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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I am very conscious that the cost of textbooks is a considerable burden on families. The previous Minister met with members of the Irish Educational Publishers' Association in 2011 and impressed on them the need to limit the cost of textbooks. He also stressed to them the real need to avoid placing schools and families in a position where textbooks are altered unnecessarily.

The Association responded positively to his approaches and agreed a voluntary Code of Practice among their members. The Code commits the publishers to limit the publication of new editions and to maintaining editions of books in print unchanged for at least six years.

The publishers have also given assurances that they will sell textbooks to schools at discounts so that schools can purchase textbooks in bulk to stock textbook rental schemes.

My Department provided approximately €15m in total to first and second level schools by way of book grants in 2012 and the same level of funding was provided in 2013 and 2014.

It will continue to be paid in 2015.

Budget 2014 provided funding of €5 million for three years to support the establishment of book rental schemes in primary schools that did not operate such schemes. DEIS schools will receive €150 per child and non-DEIS schools will receive €100 per child in seed capital to establish book rental schemes.

This will cost approximately €6.7million of the €15 million secured over the three year period, the balance of €8.3 million will be divided in 2015 and 2016 among primary schools that currently operate book rental schemes. Every primary school has now been given the opportunity to benefit from the funding secured for the School Book Rental Scheme.

The previous Minister also launched new "Guidelines for Developing Textbook Rental Schemes in Schools" on the 28th January 2013. These Guidelines provide practical advice to primary and post-primary schools on how rental schemes can be established and operated. The aim of the Guidelines is to help as many schools as possible to start such book rental programmes. Schools which already have book rental schemes can save parents up to 80% of the cost of buying new books.

A special "Guide for Parents" was also published, to inform them of how the schemes operate and how parents can help schools to establish and run them.

Educational book publishers are independent private companies not under the direct control of my Department.

One estimate from publishers' sources suggests that the Irish school book market is worth approximately €60million per annum.

Apart from a small number of prescribed texts at second-level, mainly in the case of language subjects, decisions on textbooks are taken at school level. Individual schools need to adopt a more cost-conscious approach to the selection of books in their classes. I have no plans to amend the present funding arrangements for book grants at primary and second level.