DOZENS OF BOOKSELLERS have written to the Minister for Education and other government figures in recent years – in some cases warning that the free schoolbooks scheme would have a devastating impact on their businesses, and in others detailing significant cuts they had already made to cope with the changes.
The scheme, first introduced for primary schools in 2023 and to be expanded to some secondary school years from this September, aims to reduce financial pressure on parents.
Since September 2023 parents of primary school children do not have to pay a contribution fee towards books as the schools instead provide them on loan. Free books are to be provided to Junior Cycle students in secondary school from September of this year as part of a change announced in last year’s Budget.
While other reliefs were available for schools and parents prior to this, the changes brought in by Education Minister Norma Foley marked a significant change in the system.
Due to the procurement process, many smaller bookshops have been adversely affected, leaving them questioning whether they can stay afloat in an industry transformed. That’s because schools are required to get quotes from three different retailers, and must choose the cheapest.
As a result, some shops have had to give major discounts on products and say they have had to introduce further cuts to what were already small margins.
Booksellers and other stakeholders have been contacting the minister, Taoiseach and other government figures over the scheme in recent months. Their letters have been released to The Journal via a Freedom of Information request.
A spokesperson for the Department told The Journal that there has been regular engagement with stakeholders, including booksellers, since late 2022. A review of the scheme is ongoing and is expected to be completed in the coming months.
“As a former teacher, I welcomed the initiative, but as a schoolbooks family shop owner, I have watched in dismay at how the initiative has been implemented,” one owner of a family-run business said in a letter.
They described how they had had to let eight staff go last summer, as the shop couldn’t compete with larger suppliers. They said that two full-time staff had spent seven weeks completing quotes for schools, only to not be chosen by any.
Another owner said the scheme had created an all-or-nothing industry, where shops have to scale-up quickly to fulfil orders for a whole area or miss out on sales altogether.
In September 2022, when the scheme was first announced, Booksellers Ireland wrote to the Minister, asking for an “early opportunity” to talk about the possible outcomes, as schoolbooks are vital source of income for many shops.
In January 2023, the Small Firms Association contacted then-junior minister for retail Damien English, warning of potential redundancies and closures. The group suggested a voucher scheme that would allow parents to purchase the books in whichever shop they choose, to spread business around.
“The margin on selling schoolbooks is very low, but it does generate footfall,” the letter said.
It is understood that a national tender for schoolbooks was under consideration by Government at one point, as it would guarantee the lowest possible price.
However, it was decided that this would have been administratively laborious, as millions of books would have had to be distributed by the start of term, and Government thought it would put further strain on small businesses.
Ultimately, Government decided to allow schools to tender for books themselves.
In one of the letters released under FOI a shop in Cork wrote to then-Taoiseach Micheál Martin in November 2022 questioning the “best price” policy of the scheme, arguing that it would disproportionately affect small businesses who, even if they can offer the best prices, would not be able to complete all the work in the short space of time necessary.
Ministers, TDs and MEPs also wrote to the Department of Education expressing concern about the impact the scheme was having on bookshops, including Simon Coveney, Simon Harris, Mary Butler (Waterford), James Browne (Wexford), Martin Heydon (Kildare South) and MEP Francis Fitzgerald.
In most cases, the politicians said that they had been asked to contact the Department on behalf of a business in their constituency.
In one of the more strongly-worded pieces of correspondence Ceann Comhairle and Kildare South TD Seán Ó Fearghail wrote to Minister Foley saying he had “very real concerns about the potential closure of bookshops”, and warned that there may be an “unintended consequence” of the scheme, despite its good intentions.
Bookshops in Sligo and Kildare also warned of redundancies and potential closures, the letters show. One asked that small shops “are not cut out” of the industry, and another said the scheme would put “ten jobs minimum” at risk.
Cian Byrne, owner of Maynooth Bookshop, told The Journal this week that he has no choice but to change the way he does business in the hopes of ensuring the survival of his business.
“We’ve been preparing for a life without schoolbooks sales, which is a difficult proposition given that those were 70% of the Maynooth Bookshops turnover last year,” he said.
He said most secondary schools in the area are under the Kildare and Wicklow Education Board, which tenders for one supplier together, meaning most bookshops will lose out on sales completely.
“Even if we won the tender, we do not have the capacity or cash position to supply over 20 secondary schools at once as well as the primary schools we supply.”
The result, said Byrne, will be that sellers will be “fighting for scraps” or leaving the industry entirely.
In responses to booksellers sent between September 2022 and February 2023, Minister Foley set out how the scheme would work and promised the Department would “continue to engage” with all involved.
The Department is currently undertaking a review of the scheme. Although it would not confirm a timeline for the review, the Deputy Secretary General Gavin O’Leary said in a committee hearing last year that it should be completed by February or March 2024.
A spokesperson for the Department said it engaged with relevant stakeholders, including publishers and shops, “on an ongoing basis since late 2022″ to give consideration to their concerns.
“Schools continue to have autonomy to choose books and resources which meet their own needs within curricular requirements,” they said.
“They are familiar with purchasing books from local suppliers for book rental schemes and adhering to public procurement requirements.”
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