Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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177. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the cost of expanding the free schoolbooks scheme to all remaining students. [38596/24]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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As Minister for Education, I believe it is crucially important that children and young people are actively supported to access education in its fullest forms. This Government recognises that the cost of preparing children for school each September can be a cause of financial difficulty and worry for many Irish families.

As part of Budget 2024, I announced a major investment of over €115 million to continue the provision of free schoolbooks to pupils in recognised primary schools and special schools for the second year and to introduce the first year of the a new scheme for students enrolled in Junior Cycle programmes in post-primary schools in the Free Education Scheme. This was a landmark moment in Irish education and one that furthered our goal to provide free education for all and ensure that every child can benefit from free education.

The introduction of this measure directly addressed our commitment under the Programme for Government to commence a free schoolbooks scheme pilot in September 2020 and expand the scheme to schools nationwide, as resources allow.

More than 214,000 students enrolled in approximately 670 post-primary schools, and over 65 special schools, are benefiting from the new Junior Cycle Schoolbooks Scheme this year.

The grant for this scheme is based on the previous year’s validated enrolment figures which, for the 2024/25 school year, is the number of students that were enrolled in Junior Cycle for the previous 2023/24 school year.

The Junior Cycle school book grant funding for the 2024/25 academic year, totalling over €67 million was paid directly to all post-primary schools in the Free Education Scheme in March, to allow schools implement the scheme in time for the start of the 2024/25 school year. Post-primary schools have also received the existing book grant, which has been in place for a number of years, for students in Senior Cycle years for the 2024/25 school year.

As Minister for Education, I am acutely aware of the various costs faced by families upon the return of their children to school each September and am confident that this new provision has significantly reduced the back-to-school financial burden for many families. However, I have always made it known that it is my intention that the scheme should be expanded to include Senior Cycle years in future years as resources allow.

The extension of the free schoolbook scheme to Senior Cycle students is being considered as part of budget negotiations and therefore this information is deemed budget confidential. On this basis we are unable to provide this information at present.