DEIS schools to get €85

Children who attend primary schools in DEIS areas are to have their book grant increase to €85 per pupil.

The Department of Education and Skills already provides a book grant of almost €17 million to all recognised primary and post primary schools within the Free Education Scheme in order to provide assistance for books, including book rental schemes and all schools are encouraged to operate book rental schemes to help alleviate costs to parents.
Fine Gael Senator Joe O’Reilly said the additional funding of €1m to reduce the cost of books for primary school pupils is welcome news for parents.

Senator Joe O’Reilly said: “More than 15,000 pupils across more than 100 primary schools are to benefit from the increased investment which is extremely welcome for parents. 

“The investment is being made on top of the book grant provided to all schools in the country and follows a commitment in Budget 2020 to introduce an extra support to reduce costs for families and school communities.

“Around 15,500 children will benefit from the additional funding.

“The new pilot which aims to provide free school books will be available to more than 100 primary schools which are part of the DEIS programme, in both rural and urban areas.

“The pilot programme will see the book grant increase to €85 per pupil in the participating schools, all of which are in the DEIS programme.”