Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have a few questions. I am sorry that I had to pop out earlier. I have been focusing on school transport since 2009 when the then Minister, Mary Coughlan, carried out a review of the school transport system. The problems commenced thereafter. I have seen families split - in that siblings are not taken on the same bus - and the splitting of communities. The schools have not moved and the homes have not moved but the rule has been introduced that one must attend one's nearest school. Traditionally, one half of the Ballycroy parish went to school in Belmullet and the other half went to Achill. Suddenly, people were told they could not do that and siblings have been separated.

I have a question about repeat leaving certificate students. It is not possible for them to make applications until after 15 August. Could provision be made for them? They should not be called eligible late applicants, particularly as it is not their fault that they must apply late.

What legislation is needed to bring some common sense to the situation? We get replies from Bus Éireann which indicate that there is nothing it can do about the situation because it is given direction by the Department of Education and Skills. What legislation is needed to allow for flexibility in the system? I refer, for example, to issues concerning the nearest school route or the other common problems. It is the same across the country. There is a commonality with many of the problems. I do not want to come back before the committee time and again presenting the same problems and when we leave people are still left dealing with the problems.

Do the witnesses sincerely think that the school transport system is designed for working parents? Why are working parents excluded from it in the main? Their children are considered for concessionary places. Working parents are not eligible for a medical card in many cases due to the threshold being so low. We are saying to working parents that the school transport system is not for them unless they can pay.

I raised a matter in a Commencement debate last week on school transport. There has been a refusal to put on a bigger bus on a route even though there are a number of concessionary tickets involved. I hate categorising children in such a way. The Minister of State, Deputy Halligan, indicated:

Routes cannot be altered under the scheme and nor will additional vehicles will be introduced. Neither larger vehicles nor extra trips using existing vehicles will be provided to cater for children who are not eligible, as additional State costs would be incurred by covering the cost of providing school transport for children who are eligible for it.

It comes down to cost. I cannot understand the approach when the company can provide a bigger bus. Is it legislation that we need or a combination of legislation and resources that would allow children, in particular from working families, who would have to pay between €300 and €600 anyway, to be provided with a school transport service? They are not asking for the service for free. I know families that paid €600 in June for their children to get on the bus, only to be told the week before they went back to school that a seat was not available on the bus. Last year, the Minister of State, Deputy Halligan, promised that there would be a seat on the bus for everybody and he has not fulfilled his promise. I am not sorry that he is not here because he had no answers whatsoever. Perhaps the people who are dealing with the matter could help us to solve the problems so that we are not coming back time and time again with the same issues across the board.