Holly Cairns (Cork South West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the committee's inclusion of school transport as a topic, which is recognition of the vital role school transport plays especially in rural Ireland. However, the topic only got a passing mention in the opening statements.

The work of planning a return to education offers a new opportunity to consider how schools operate, and how greater equity and support can be added. It is an opportunity to review the school transport scheme, which does not work for many families and is a substantial cost for many families in west Cork and across rural Ireland. We need to reform the remote area grant, which is insufficient to cover costs especially for island communities. What assurances can Mr. Ó Foghlú give us that the cost of school transport will not be increased and that the remote area grant will not be affected by the additional costs to provide social distanced travel?