Free secondary school books 'under consideration' in budget

Minister for Education Norma Foley said it is one of her aspirations to bring free school books to secondary schools. Picture: Moya Nolan

Extending the free school books scheme to secondary school students will be “under consideration” in the Budget, Education Minister Norma Foley has said.

Ms Foley said it is one of her aspirations to bring free school books to secondary schools.

“It will be a consideration for the budget. There are many, many competing elements in terms of what we can achieve in the budget and I'm conscious of that as well but it's certainly a strong aspiration of mine that over time, we will be in a position to deliver similar at post-primary,” Ms Foley said.

The free books scheme for primary schools currently costs €53m, with schools permitted to buy textbooks, copy books and workbooks for pupils.

Asked how much extending the scheme to secondary schools would cost, Ms Foley declined to speculate.

“There's a body of work ongoing within the departments in relation to that and we're working through all of that in advance of our discussions in relation to the budget.”

Questioned on the ongoing issues with the issuing of school bus tickets, Ms Foley defended the scheme saying there have never been more students accessing the school transport scheme. Norma Foley

It follows on from criticism by the Government and opposition figures in recent days, as families who have previously accessed bus tickets for several years are unable to get a place for their children.

In particular, Fine Gael Senator Tim Lombard was critical of Ms Foley saying the current situation is “simply not good enough”.

However, Ms Foley said there have been over 112,000 school bus tickets issued so far this year, compared to 100,000 at the same time in 2022.

“It's been very efficiently run this year, so there will be more children and young people availing of the school transport system than we've ever seen before,” Ms Foley said.

“Where young people are not eligible for this scheme, if they don't meet the criteria, there may be available concessionary tickets if there is an additional space available on the bus.

“But it is about the criteria, you know, you're either eligible for the scheme or you're not eligible.”

The Education Minister added that the review of the school transport scheme, which started in February 2021, is “nearing completion” and will be presented to her shortly.