Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Bus Éireann and Department of Education and Skills officials for coming in today. It is important to raise an issue of which I know the Department and Bus Éireann are aware.

These are issues affecting the Termon and Kilmacrennan area of Donegal. Students attending secondary school in the Milford area are without school bus places. The Minister met Oireachtas Members from County Donegal last week and I discussed this matter with him this morning, so I know the Department is working on the issue. What is unique to this case, however, is that the vast majority of the 33 students affected are eligible for the scheme. They are not concessionary students and are, therefore, entitled to school transport. Some of the parents filled out the application form on the website but because they did not have the students' medical cards to hand at the time, they were unable to submit certain details. Having reached the end of the online application process, they were informed by the website that they were registered. They believed, therefore, that the process had been completed and their applications accepted. As a result, approximately 25 students who are eligible for school transport do not have a seat on the school bus, which is obviously distressing to their parents. There is capacity in the rules of the school transport scheme to provide for these students and ensure an additional bus is provided promptly to enable these students to travel to school this year on a school bus.

How promptly can the Department complete its deliberations on this matter and revert to the committee? The Minister indicated that he hopes to meet Oireachtas Members again to update us on the Department's considerations of this matter. I emphasise, however, that the case I highlighted is special because up to 25 of the students in question qualify as eligible rather than concessionary, meaning there is a case for providing an additional bus to cater for them in this school year.

Other members raised the issue of students affected by the nearest school rule. Deputy Browne noted the lack of logic applied in some circumstances. I have dealt with a number of cases involving students who were told that if they chose to attend the school attended by all of their neighbours, they would be regarded as concessionary students, which means having to pay a fee and only getting a seat if there is one to spare. The reason given was that they lived closer to another school, even though the distance involved was less than 100 m. In many cases, there is no school transport service available to the closer school because there is no tradition in the area of attending that school. In such cases, the students have to make their own way to school or, as in one case this year in Drumfries in Donegal, travel several miles to join the nearest school bus route, despite another bus passing the top of their lane which they cannot board without paying the fee. Similar circumstances have arisen in Newtowncunningham, Muff and Glenealy in Donegal and arises in Termon and Kilmacrennan every year. Dealing with these cases would involve no additional cost as there may already be capacity on the buses in question. The students are being told, however, that if they want to travel to the school that people in their area have always attended, they must pay a fee. This is despite the fact that if they opted to go to the other school, they might not be close to the route of the school bus. In addition, because they would also travel for free on the bus to the closest school, resolving the problem would not impose a net cost on the Department. These students are missing out because of the lack of logic in the implementation of the rules.

This matter must be reviewed to bring a degree of common sense to the application of the rules in order that people living in these areas will not face the same problem in each school year.