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

I will work backwards. Deputy Ryan raised a good point. Much of our focus in the science strategy has been on research and development, innovation, working with enterprise and third level education. Whereas Science Foundation Ireland, SFI, is given the job of advocating for and encouraging science through primary and secondary levels, the Deputy called for an important target. All students having access to science is a resource issue, but we should consider it in terms of the strategy to determine whether there is a way of closing the gap over a number of years. The Deputy is the first person to mention it even though I have attended hundreds of meetings on the science strategy. It is probably the most obvious point. I will work on it and revert to the Deputy. The science strategy involves a number of other Departments. It is a good target, but solving the issue is a different story.

Deputy McConalogue is aware that I have met parents regarding the school bus issue. Many saw resolutions this year, but we were unable to solve it for everyone. The bus is not going over the mountain this year. The route, which is based on eligible pupils, does not need to cross the gap about which everyone is concerned. The system measures the shortest traversable route. This is what is done across the country. It can cause difficulty if one lives on a mountain Kerry, Cork or Donegal. We even have the odd mountain in County Meath, or big hills as we call them. However, the way the system measures must be equitable throughout the country. There must be a common system. There is no other way of doing it. When I met the parents alongside the Deputy and others, I gave a commitment to review the situation continually to determine whether there was something obvious that we were doing wrong, whether we had missed a commonsensical approach and whether we could make tweaks that were within budget so as to improve the system.

That is an ongoing process. Any major changes are a budgetary issue. We are under a lot of pressure in all Departments when it comes to money.

I gave the parents a commitment but made it clear to them that there was no pending solution this year that would solve their problem. I did give a commitment that I would try to solve their problem within the rules. This year the matter have been resolved for most of the students and we will work on the matter for the years ahead.

A fair point was made about ethos and language. I understood that the issue related to the minority religion. Roman Catholicism was always very dominant in this country and it was always felt that there was access to religious instruction in such schools. Whereas minority religions, specifically the Church of Ireland, were not catered for. That is what the rule is about. There are some cases ongoing about the choice of going to a Catholic school as opposed to an ETB one. That matter is generally dealt with in legislation. I shall take a look at the matter and will come back to the Deputy with a proper briefing. It is generally regarded that an ETB covers all religious requirements. I understand what has been said and I shall come back to the Deputy on the matter. The original provision was to cater for minority religions.

I have answered the main questions that I was asked. I am sorry to leave but I must catch a flight.