Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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359. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if consideration will be given to including an additional school (details supplied) under the pilot grant book scheme introduced in 2020; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35988/22]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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My Department currently provides a book grant of over €17 million to all recognised primary and post primary schools within the Free Education Scheme in order to provide assistance for books, including book rental schemes, and all schools are encouraged to operate book rental schemes to help alleviate costs to parents.  It is a matter for the board of management of each individual school to decide on its own policy in relation to the use of this funding in the school, but they are expected to adopt a cost-conscious approach to the selection of books for use in their classes.

Following a commitment in Budget 2020 to introduce an extra support to reduce costs for families and school communities, €1m funding for a pilot book grant scheme in primary schools was provided. The investment was made on top of the book rental grant provided to all schools in the country.

- 102 DEIS primary schools (45 rural and 57 urban) were identified for inclusion in the pilot which began in September 2020.

- More than 15,000 students across the 102 primary schools have benefitted from the increased investment.

The pilot scheme for the 102 DEIS primary schools is being continued for the 2022/23 school year.