Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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10. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will engage with schoolbook publishers to achieve necessary savings for the free schoolbooks scheme rather than reducing the rate paid per student to schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23801/24]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I believe it is crucially important that all children and young people are actively supported to access education in its fullest forms.

Since June 2020, and over the past four Budgets, I have secured funding to support measures aimed at achieving that goal. One of the most important policies in this regard has been the establishment of Ireland’s first free primary school book scheme in 2023, which has been fully funded to provide free schoolbooks, workbooks and copybooks to every single student enrolled primary schools and special schools. This has also been expanded to all Junior Cycle students in second-level schools.

More than 555,000 pupils enrolled in approximately 3,229 primary schools, including 138 special schools, will benefit from this measure in the 2024/25 school year.

I know that families can face struggles in preparing for the return to school. This free schoolbook scheme eliminates the cost to all families for schoolbooks at primary school and enrolled in Junior Cycle, including workbooks and copybooks.

In the past few weeks over €44.4 million issued to recognised primary and special schools around the country to continue implementation of the free schoolbooks scheme at primary level. Revised guidance for the 2024/25 school year was published on my Department’s website and has also issued to schools.

Under the scheme for the 2024/25 school year, schools have received €80 per pupil. This equates to a rate of €8,000 per 100 pupil primary school, building on the €9,600 which was paid to schools last year for the scheme. Special schools that have students enrolled in Junior Cycle programmes have received funding at the Junior Cycle rate of €309 per student, as set out under the new Junior Cycle Schoolbooks Scheme, in respect of these students.

Clearly, in the first year of the scheme being operated, there was a recognition that many schools would be purchasing a stock of books for the very first time, and for this reason, funding was front-loaded into the first year of the scheme. Of course, while some books may go missing or become unusable, schoolbooks remain the property of the school and many books are now available to schools for reuse in the 2024/25 school year and in future school years. The funding allocated to the scheme in the 2024/25 school year takes account of this. This is also in line with ensuring value for money for the taxpayer and avoiding significant waste of books etc. where possible.

As part of the on-going evaluation of the scheme, all schools will be asked to provide data on their expenditure in order to inform the guidance, implementation, costs and efficiency of the scheme for future years.

Primary schools and special schools will continue to have autonomy to choose books that meet their curricular requirements. The scheme will seek to ensure that value for money is achieved and that primary schools and special schools will be supported to implement the scheme in a way that has the best learning outcomes for pupils.

My Department engaged with all relevant stakeholders as to how the scheme will continue to operate. These included: primary school management bodies, unions, the National Parents Council Primary, representatives of booksellers and schoolbook publishers, IBEC, Retail Ireland, the Small Firms Association, Barnardo's and the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul. My Department also undertook an evaluation of Year 1 of the scheme and this included engaging directly with a small number of schools to learn of their first-hand experience of implementing the scheme in the 2023/24 school year.

As Minister for Education, I am deeply aware of the numerous costs faced by families upon the return of their children to school each September and I am confident that this scheme will significantly reduce the back-to-school financial burden for many families.