THE FREE SCHOOLBOOKS scheme is “death by a thousand cuts” for Irish booksellers, who have fears for the future of the industry if the scheme is expanded.

A lack of footfall in-store and small shops competing with large businesses for contracts has led to eight store closures since the scheme began, and more sellers are expected to exit the market after this year’s books are distributed.

First introduced for primary schools in 2023 and to be expanded to Junior Cycle students this September, the free schoolbooks scheme aims to reduce financial pressure on parents. 

Taoiseach Simon Harris has mooted an expansion of the scheme to Leaving Certificate students in the October Budget.

While booksellers largely support the scheme’s purpose, they’ve consistently warned the Department of Education that, in its current form, it could have devastating effects for the industry.

Due to the procurement process, many smaller bookshops have been adversely affected. 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. 

Winners and losers

Cian Byrne, owner of Maynooth Bookshop, said that while shops have taken a hit since the scheme was expanded to Junior Cycle, in-store sales from Leaving Certificate books still accounted for about 60% of shop income.

The latest expansion, he says, means shops will likely have to either pivot to a wholesale business model or close down.

“I have spent the last while trying to figure out warehousing space, because it’s actually the only way I could do it.

“Either I need warehouse space or I need to just get out of it, because it’s very, very hard to do.”

Bad weather means books can’t sit outside on pallets in the rain. At Maynooth Bookshop, Byrne has erected marquees to store them while they await delivery to schools.

This setup, he says, isn’t realistic for smaller premises so it could put an end to main street storefronts.

There are big players in the market who are hoovering up all around them.

In a statement, Dawn Behan of Booksellers Ireland said that the eTendering process has made it impossible for smaller shops to compete, “from both a cashflow and manpower viewpoint”. 

“The weighting system used in the tendering process has put an emphasis on cost, to the detriment of level of service provided and sustainability.”

She added that the significant reduction in funds provided – from €96 per pupil to €80 - has forced primary schools to prioritise cost over “customer service, support for local businesses and loyalty to relationships built up over time”. 

The Department of Education has said that it has engaged with all stakeholders on an ongoing basis since 2022. It added: “Schools continue to have autonomy to choose books and resources which meet their own needs within curricular requirements.”

Around 563,000 primary school children have benefitted from the scheme so far and a further 212,000 secondary school students will avail of it this year.

Byrne stressed the need for the government to issue funding to schools earlier in the year so that the process of acquiring quotes and requesting tenders can be completed before schools empty for the summer.

Secondary schools got confirmation of the funding available to them for Junior Cycle books in May of this year. As a result, Byrne says, June was “bananas”.

“We’re trying to arrange deliveries to schools out of hours. They’re being very accommodating, it’s great. But they shouldn’t have to do that,” he said.

“Teachers are on their holidays. They shouldn’t have to come in to let you in – or the caretaker, or the secretary.”

‘Bankrolling’

Another consequence of this is that some schools have been late to pay booksellers.

In some cases, we’ve made deliveries weeks ago and we still haven’t been paid for it. 

“We’re paying bills left, right and centre to publishers and the bookshops are bankrolling the whole thing,” says Byrne.

“If you’re [a small business] you don’t necessarily have the cash.”

Education Minister Norma Foley said in March that relationships between schools and local bookshops don’t have to be damaged by the free schoolbooks scheme.

She said that the scheme is “quite a significant lifting of the burden” of back to school on parents, as it not only covers textbooks and workbooks, but novels, dictionaries and homework journals as well.

She added: “The existing relationship that a school may well have with booksellers or the local book store or whatever, that relationship should continue should they so wish.”

This runs contrary to the understanding among schools and booksellers.