Fiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank our witnesses for their time and their very valuable contributions. We really appreciate them. All the members have gone but the non-members are here. There has been significant engagement in terms of non-members and I really appreciate their attendance because it is a very important issue. We talk about the importance of education, the importance of education in our communities and the need to provide free education but as we all know, education is costly in terms of children going back to school, uniforms, books, etc. Transport is an added cost but it is a cost that parents bear because they want to see their children get the best opportunities as close as possible to their own homes. There are still families that do not have cars and those where both parents and there is no car available. In that context, the witnesses can appreciate the stress and distress this causes within such families.

I thank the delegates. We will be making recommendations to the Minister and the Department. We would also appreciate any follow-up with the delegates.