Ms Lorraine Dempsey:

Regarding school transport, for any parents who do not know how to access the scheme, the conditions, including the rates, are set out on the Department's website. The National Parents Council Post Primary reiterated on two occasions that people are paid after the fact. Parents who do not have a car should contact the Department directly. There is a specific email for parents who have difficulty providing transport for their children.

Those who have a car are expected to drop everything. The parent may not be going to the school down the road. We have this issue regarding children with disabilities all the time. It is an annual event. The parents are paid after the fact. They apply for funding and are paid a couple of months later. Again, it is down to a person's socioeconomic status. If a parent cannot afford to put petrol in his or her car, that is a challenge, even though parents typically have a car. As far as I am aware, any parent in that position can contact the Department directly using a specific email address on the Department's webpage on the school transport scheme.