Fine Gael Kildare South TD Martin Heydon, has welcomed the news that all Kildareprimary schools are to benefit from funding for the Book Rental Scheme. The Government announced €15 million in funding for the Book Rental Scheme in Budget 2014 which was confined to those schools who didn’t already have a book rental scheme. It has now been confirmed that all primary schools throughout the country are to benefit from this valuable initiative, the funding for which was secured through the proceeds of the sale of the National Lottery.
“I am delighted at the news that all primary schoolsare now to benefit from the Book Rental Scheme 2014. I had been approached by several schools who already had established book rental schemes but wished to avail of additional funding to improve their schemes. They felt they were being penalised for having taken the initiative to set up the schemes themselves.
In making the announcement Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn stated “It is crucially important that all children across the country have the opportunity to benefit from this scheme. That is why it was decided to provide €6.7 million over 2014 & 2015 to schools which do not currently operate a book rental scheme. This funding will assist those schools to establish new schemes. €8.3 million in funding has also been set aside to assist the many schools who already operate book rental schemes. This will be a great boost to those schools who have worked hard to establish their own schemes and who may now be able to use the funding to expand their schemes or even to upgrade their book collections.