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

It probably would not. We are looking at reviewing that appeals process to see if we can factor in the situation raised by the Deputy to some degree. There is a rule called the full school rule, where if a school determines that it is full and cannot take in another student, a facility exists to allow children to travel to the next nearest school. We have had one or two instances of that happening. We might look at formalising that arrangement and bringing it into the appeals process.

The capital cost associated with providing a classroom for a school stretched to capacity is a once-off capital cost. It will happen in one year and we will not have to encounter it again. The savings arising from school transport rationalisation and reorganisation accrue year after year, so there are two different challenges to bear in mind. To build a new classroom to accommodate those 30 extra children would be a once-off capital cost to the Department, but to continue to transport children on a yearly basis to a school other than their nearest school, would provide for an accruing cost to the State. It is not a fair comparison to make.