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

I compliment the Department on its provision for special needs. It is a fantastic service. I am aware of it from a person in my family. The Department is rolling out a great service.

We must have been hardier in my day because I used to be on a bus for an hour and a half to two and a half hours. We were hardier in the 1970s than nowadays. I did not know there were restrictions on time. At the same time, we were damn glad to get the bus.

In a case where the bus is full and there are no tickets available if anyone is even an hour late in paying, he or she is finished for the year. I was involved in several cases where families forgot to pay over a weekend, or in one case it was only an hour late, and they were excluded for the year because they did not pay on time. There was no appeal system. Those who were late were just ruled out for the whole year until the following year. Most of them learned from that and they paid the following year.

Parents are frustrated by the notification system. They might be told on a Friday evening that even though the school is open on Monday no bus would be available. That is frustrating for parents and people in general. Working parents must make alternative arrangements. An early warning system should be in place to warn parents, for example, a month in advance, that children on concessionary tickets will not get a place on the bus. Something must be done about that.

In effect, there is no appeals system. I have been through it on several occasions. An inspector comes out and makes a decision and that is the end of the story. He might come out a second time if one contacts him. The inspector covering my area is based in Waterford. However, there is never a change. Whatever decision is made is upheld and there is no come-back on it. In one case there was a third of a kilometre involved between two schools in adjacent parishes. I did the journey myself in the car based on where the children were let off the bus in the evening and the distances were equal. Even though I went to the inspector there was no give whatsoever. Three generations of a family had been to the school concerned. The family was told to go into a new parish for the sake of a third of a kilometre even though where the children were being dropped off meant it was the same distance between both schools but no one would listen. That was the end of the story. The provision of a place on a school bus was ruled out.

Another case concerning health and safety has been going on for years. The Garda was contacted by parents as the bus was turning at a dangerous junction. We appealed it on several occasions. The inspector came out two or three times and said the bus would continue to turn at that point. I thought it was very cruel that they did not take the safety aspect of where they were turning into consideration. People were trying to drop children off on a bad bend in the road, and they were waiting for them with no place to park but they got no hop on that one. I do not think the appeals system is working. A better system should be in place for parents and politicians.

I have called on the Minister of State, Deputy Halligan, to amend the rules governing the school transport scheme which state that, routes will not be extended or altered, additional vehicles will not be introduced, nor will larger vehicles or extra trips using existing vehicles be provided to cater for children travelling on a concessionary basis, to ensure who apply for a concessionary ticket can be accommodated. I put the same question to the Department and Bus Éireann. From an operational point of view, would Bus Éireann be open to amending the rule and would there be a significant additional cost associated with amending the rule?