€8m for schools excluded from book rental grant

Education Minister Ruairi Quinn has managed to come up with more than €8m for the majority of primary schools previously excluded from a grant scheme to help support book rental services.

He came in for strong criticism from opposition parties and teachers when a €15m fund over three years to help primary schools set up book rental schemes — announced in last October’s budget — was restricted to the minority that did not already have one.

It was stated that many schools had only recently started schemes and needed major fundraising to expand over a number of years, while others had already relied heavily on financial support from parents and local communities to establish theirs.