Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. Earlier today, the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport and Communications met and had a lengthy debate. One of the focuses was on transport and we got into the realm of school transport for a while. I might explain the discussion because I think there is merit to it. School transport is very important and I have often spoken to the Minister about this, both publicly and privately.

Five buses equal one train. A bus can be transformative in a rural community. The local school where I taught had an enrolment of 347 pupils. It was on a third class road. A car might not be seen on it for ten minutes, but in the morning at 9 a.m. and at 2.40 p.m. there would be 347 drop-offs and pick-ups at that school gate. It was bedlam. A school bus is transformative as it takes many cars off the road and allows parents to have a better morning getting to work or to whatever their plans are for the day. School transport was fantastic this year. It was the best decision taken by the Department. I had some teething problems - we have been through all of that - but the concept alone was fantastic and it is one that should be held onto.

The discussion in committee room 2 across the corridor pointed out that at the moment Bus Éireann and private fleet vehicles are contracted to do the school run in the morning. They drop off 50 children at a school and leave empty because their contract is with the Department of Education and for only school transport. A good, deep discussion took place. It was said there must be some way in the halls of Government for Ministers and their officials to flip this on its head to ensure the school bus becomes a public bus after the moment of drop-off. There is a bus going into every small village every morning. That bus could take people back to the town. It would work equally well in Parteen in County Clare as in the Minister's constituency in County Kerry. It would be transformative. The Minister, Deputy Ryan, had a free flowing thought process, as Deputy Ryan sometimes does, and the committee valued it. This idea was teased out by committee members. We think it has merit and perhaps the Ministers can join the dots to allow something like this to happen in the new academic year.