Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is causing problems in a small number of areas. While school transport is a service provided by the State, the ultimate decision for parents on which school to send their children rests with parents themselves. If they determine that loyalty to the parish is so important to them, then they have the choice of transporting the children to their parish school, even though it may not be their nearest school. That parental choice is still an option. I know that in certain areas, parents come together, pool their resources and find a mechanism to get the children to and from the school.

I would love to have the resources to reflect the need of every single community and every single family in the country but we do not have those resources and we do not look like having them any time soon.