Bobby Aylward (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is just that we have a Topical Issue debate that is due to take place at 5.20 p.m. and that is the reason we must depart early.

I welcome all of the officials to the meeting. Much of what I want to say has been said and I do not want to repeat anything. As Senator Gallagher has expressed, school transport is a greater problem for rural areas than urban areas because most towns and urban areas have two or three schools within walking distance for students. School transport is a problem in rural Ireland and that is one of the reasons we are here. The system and the way it is rolled out are not fit for purpose anymore. I firmly believe that the scheme must be reviewed because the system is broken and I urge the Minister to wake up to this issue. School transport has had ongoing problems since I returned to the Dáil in 2015. For the past three years at this time of year I have argued with him about school transport. The situation has worsened every year. The demographics have changed in country areas because of the good times enjoyed in the 2000s and people built more homes in these areas as a result. The number of people who seek places on buses that travel via towns and villages have increased and we must take that fact on board.

Funding amounting to €190 million is a lot of money. Today, we have talked about the number of children who have concessionary tickets. Prior to the 2016 election my party conducted research that revealed it would cost €3.2 million to cover the cost of concessionary tickets. This week my party conducted research that revealed it would cost €4 million to cover all of the concessionary tickets, and tickets for all of the students who have been left out of the scheme. A sum of €4 million sounds like a lot of money but it is small when compared with the overall budget. We need €4 million to fix the problem. I ask the Department officials to comment on the matter. I ask them and the relevant Minister to consider providing €4 million. My party's research produced a figure of €4 million. We did not have the full information but we have been told that a sum of €4 million will suffice, and includes the cost of concessionary tickets.

In modern society both parents must work. In the past it was possible for one parent to go out to paid work while the other parent stayed at home to mind their children and afford to keep a family car but those days are gone. All parents must now go out to work in order to pay a mortgage and earn a living. Unfortunately, children are left without anyone to put them on a bus and no bus to transport them. This is a serious issue. As my colleague, Deputy Kathleen Funchion, has said here, there are a lot of problems in Kilkenny. In my parish alone there are 11 students without bus transport but the area has had school transport, when their parents and grandparents attended school, since 1969 until a change was made in 2011 and the students were categorised as concessionary. People in the area received a bus ticket without an issue for a period that spanned three generations. Unfortunately, people have been told that students must travel to a neighbouring parish. Access is fierce important in country areas. People in these areas are very parochial and will not travel to neighbouring parishes. That situation has got to do with hurling, in our case, sport and religion. One's parish defines where one comes from and what one stands for. To tell people that they must travel to a neighbouring parish and attend a school that their parents or grandparents never went near is not on and will not work. That is why I think the system is broken. We need a new bus service rolled out in country areas and the sooner that happens the better. My party following research believes that €4 million will resolve the issue. If the Minister is worth his salt he will approach the Cabinet table and demand €4 million extra to sort out this problem. The overall roll-out of the system should be considered over the next couple of years.

Like my colleague, Deputy Breathnach, I want to know whether the system is demand-led. If so, then the Government is obliged to provide the service just like it does with social welfare. If the school bus system is demand-led then every student should have their transport needs looked after, particularly in a good, open society and democracy like we have.

I wish to outline statistics on appeals that I received following a Dáil question. Since 2015, 558 appeals have been submitted at a cost of almost €60,000 and not one of them was upheld. How come not one of the 558 appeals was upheld by the Department? That sounds crazy to me. There must be one or two appeals at least that could have been accepted. To me, the appeals system is not fit for purpose and has not solved the problems.

I apologise for speaking so fast. I wish to mention the hoarding of seats. A month ago parents of students in Kilkenny conducted a survey on one bus for a week and I shall not name the area. The survey showed that one third of the seats on the bus were not availed of in the morning and evening. In other words, parents had applied for tickets but their children did not avail of them so a third of the bus was left empty.

Buses are passing by 11 or 12 children who are left on the side of the road. but one third of the seats are empty. That is ludicrous. A bus should not be making a journey with one third of the seats empty because they have been allocated to children who are not using them. Something must be done about this.