Row erupts over school books

A ROW erupted yesterday between Fine Gael and two of the country’s biggest book publishers over the “short shelf-life” of school books.

The party’s education spokesman, Brian Hayes, claimed yesterday that two main education publishers — Gill & Macmillan and Folens — released 105 new and revised editions this year.

Mr Hayes said that every year parents are being forced to fork out for “new” and revised editions of school books when often, existing books do not need to be replaced.