Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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219. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if his officials are examining a charity's (details supplied) proposal in its 2018 pre-budget submission to tackle the cost of schoolbooks for families and students; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31131/17]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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220. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if his officials have examined the proposal by a charity (details supplied) in its 2018 pre-budget submission to increase funding of the book rental scheme by €15 million; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31144/17]

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions No. 219 and 220 together.

My Department is aware of the proposal outllined in the 2018 pre budget submission referred to by the Deputy.

At the outset, I wish to make clear that I strongly support any measures that can be put in place to reduce costs for parents. 

School book rental schemes have an important role to play in reducing the cost of school books for parents.  My Department supports the operation of book rental schemes through the funding provided under its school books grant scheme.  Under this scheme, my Department provides funding of €16 million annually to all recognised primary and post-primary schools in the free education scheme. The arrangements in relation to this scheme are set out in Circular 0046/2013 which is published on my Department's website at .

In addition, €15.7 million seed capital was provided over three years to support the establishment of book rental schemes in primary schools.

One of the actions as part of the Action Plan for Education is to strengthen the focus on reducing school costs for parents by increasing the financial support for book rental schemes, in order to reduce/eliminate school book costs for parents as resources permit. 

It was not possible to provide additional funding in Budget 2017 in relation to book rental schemes due to the many competing demands for the available funding.  This commitment remains a priority for me to address as soon as possible during the lifetime of the Action Plan. However, it is important to note that there are limited funds available in Budget 2018 to meet a wide range of needs across all areas of Government. 

Furthermore, my Department has published a circular to school authorities and ETBs regarding measures to be adopted by schools to reduce the costs which include the provision of a book rental scheme. The circular can be accessed on my Department's website at .