Mr. Paul Rolston:

School transport is an issue at the start of every school year. The biggest issue this year, apart from the major problems that Covid-19 has caused, has been the change from 100% to 50% capacity on transport. That only happened relatively recently. It is our understanding that the transport services are still working through that and trying to put buses in place in areas that are without them. The issue of transporting children to school is an integral part of education and school life, as we have identified a number of times, and must be treated as such. The commitment has been given that a parent who cannot avail of the public school transport system for whatever reason will be facilitated and repaid for any costs incurred in getting children to school. That is fine, but we have highlighted that quite a considerable number of those who fall into that bracket are particularly vulnerable families who may not have the wherewithal to afford those costs upfront. That needs to be addressed quickly. We are hopeful that it will be addressed quickly in light of the speed with which some other matters are addressed. It is an integral part of going back to school.