Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am not finished the point. There is an issue when it goes below the magic number, be it ten or seven, as it was in the past, with regard to what happens these people. If they are eligible for a bus ticket they will receive a contribution towards the cost of transport. This is the remote grant. The families of children eligible to get a bus which is no longer running because it is inefficient to do so can apply for a grant towards the cost of transporting the children to school. People can apply for it and will receive it, and rightly so because it is not their fault the number of passengers has gone below the magic number. We must try to run the scheme efficiently throughout the country because it has a limited budget even though it is a demand-led service.

Quite a lot of the increase in the spend on special needs is with regard to provision, because it is something we take very seriously and, in fairness, the Department is responding to ensure people with special needs are able to avail of education. There is quite a high spend in this area to facilitate it. With regard to why someone is not eligible to use a bus going past his or her door, a bus route is based on children who are eligible to go to their nearest school. I will come back to who decides this. In the case identified, the person was not eligible to go on the route, but a concession will be made for such a person if there is space on the vehicle. The scheme must be implemented in the same way throughout the country. Non-eligible children are regarded as concessionary and must make a contribution to the cost, which is €100. I know this is an additional cost, but it is not excessive in the scheme of things and it is a contribution. To be fair and equitable with regard to how we run the scheme throughout the country, even though the bus passes the house - I know it seems illogical-----