Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I ask that the Deputy leave the details of the two schools to which he referred with me and the Department will look at those specific cases.

I reiterate that there has been superb engagement with schools on the ground. We have received between 3,000 and 4,000 calls to our helpline and thousands of emails. There has been very good engagement. Where difficulties have arisen, I am very pleased to say that many of them have been sorted out at this point or we are continuing to work through them. We will certainly look at the two cases the Deputy raised about which he might give further details.

On school buses, I reiterate that the guidance on their operation was, from the very beginning when the roadmap was issued, based on the guidance given to us by public health. This is how it was envisaged the buses would operate. Children and young people were being regarded as a single cohort in a particular environment and that it was safe for them to travel as they normally would. Additional measures would, however, be employed, for example, the use of hand sanitiser and the provision of PPE for the bus driver. Another additional measure suggested, in fairness, by Bus Éireann was pre-allocated seating. That continued to be the case up until just recently. Some time last week, new guidance was issued by NPHET and this refers only to second-level bus services. It was determined by the Government that we would proceed as planned and on a rolling-out basis there would be capacity of 50% to mirror public transport. That is exactly what we are doing and we are doing that as speedily and quickly as we possibly can.

The concessionary ticket is exactly that - a concession. Those who are eligible and paid on time received a place on a bus. Those who were not eligible in the first instance became eligible for a concessionary ticket where there was additional capacity on a bus. That is the position. We are in the process of rolling out and meeting the requirement to operate at 50% capacity, which will probably require in excess of 1,600 buses. Once that has been done, if there is additional space on those extra buses, we will look at students who still require a seat.

The grant is an opportunity for those who may wish to avail of it. It is a small recompense of probably €25 per week or whatever. My officials may wish to provide more detail on that.