Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I imagine a significant amount of this has been dealt with, and we all get the logic of the cost-of-living move, but that only works if people are getting the saving by being able to get their kids on the buses. We know the issue with concessionary tickets. It is a mess every year and we need a review that will deal with that. I used to think at times that politicians were quite happy with this element of chaos because we could be busy with people in communities who would not necessarily interact with us. It is something that is very annoying and particularly difficult for those families. We all have areas we can mention, like Annagassan, which is, unfortunately, almost equidistant between the school in Dunleer, the school in Ardee, and Dundalk. This has created an anomaly where people who usually got concessionary tickets now have not. It is a major issue. We are talking about 20 and possibly even 30 families, because there are probably a number of them who are already making difficult logistical fixes. Either way, we need that dealt with as soon as possible.

We are all glad this is moving in the right direction, and whatever has been has been. Are we talking about looking at those 6,000 concessionary tickets, and if that is the case, how much and what are the obstacles to delivering for them?

I am somewhat worried about the position with regard to those who got concessionaries before. I have a difficulty with the possible treatment of someone who has only started in first year and whose siblings may have always got concessionary tickets. I ask the Minister to answer that.