Mr. Seán Ó Foghlú:

It started off with a very dominant value for money focus. Let us be honest, the expenditure on the scheme has been increasing at a rate much above the rate of inflation in recent years. I do not believe anybody is happy with that but at the same time the costs are mostly associated with special education needs. Obviously, we have to do that but we always have to look at ways to do things better. Also, elements of choice have come in. We have choice, for example, at primary school level between different types of primary schools and to a certain extent the post-primary school level. At primary school level we have the Catholic religion, Protestant religions, Irish medium and multidenominationals. All that means we are providing a range of transport opportunities and eligibilities.