Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Senator mentioned the timing of this. To be clear, this is a cost-of-living measure. The Government has introduced a package worth in excess of €2.4 billion. A previous school transport measure reduced the cap from €650 to €500. We were alerted to an opportunity for further measures to be put in place. In consequence of that money becoming available, we looked at a variety of options, most notably school transport.

The Senator is correct to refer to the review. Nobody is more conscious than I am of the necessity for the review. I initiated this root and branch review. As I have previously articulated, it involves engagement with all of the stakeholders, including parents, students, bus providers, our European counterparts and a significant body of analysis is involved in that. I expect it will be completed before the year's end. That is what we are working towards. Having said that, we have been impacted by some issues, most notably the war in Ukraine, but we are proceeding and the work continues.

Bus Éireann acknowledges the communication difficulties because of the unprecedented demand and it has apologised for these. We engaged with Bus Éireann and provided additional resources, including staffing, so that a call centre could be put in place. It is my understanding that all calls to that centre are now being answered in a timely fashion.

The issue of the over 70s has been raised previously. Bus Éireann makes that decision from a health and safety point of view. It is its call. Its view is that the threshold is particularly high when it comes to children and young adults being transported in the bus. It states that it keeps everything under review but that is its health and safety judgment at this point. However, everything is kept under review.

I am not aware of people providing false addresses. If the Senator is aware of any specific instances, she might communicate that to the Department.

Consultation with Bus Éireann happens on an ongoing basis, particularly with my officials. Consultation regarding how things would operate took place in advance of the announcement. I wish to acknowledge that Bus Éireann has a track record of service and flexibility in service. I have previously made this point. Only a few days before the return to school, we were informed by public health that we would have to move to 50% capacity on buses. Bus Éireann embraced that and worked through it. We have seen a 21% increase-----