Offaly primary schools given almost €1m to provide free books

Offaly TD Barry Cowen said today (Wednesday) that funding of over €900,000 was being awarded by the Department of Education to provide primary school children in Offaly with free school books.

In this year's Budget, over €50 million was allocated by the Government to provide free school books to all primary school pupils from September 2023.

Deputy Cowen said the landmark scheme would see free schoolbooks, workbooks and copybooks being distributed to all pupils attending primary and special schools in Offaly.

Thereafter, the grant should be used to eliminate costs of related classroom resources such as pens, pencils, erasers, sharpeners, colouring pencils and whiteboard markers, he said.

"I welcome today’s announcement that funding of €915,648 is being paid to schools across Offaly, providing primary school children with free books for the first time in the history of the state," commented the Fianna Fáil TD.

"This ground-breaking, permanent measure is further evidence of Fianna Fail’s commitment to supporting access to education for all by enhancing the educational experience, not just in the classroom but reaching out into the family home.

"By providing free school books, workbooks and copy books, we will ease some of the financial burden facing families with the back-to- school costs."