Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister and, indeed, the officials for being here today.

My first question relates to school transport. The Minister has mentioned the two pilot schemes and has said that the review has been concluded. The nearest school rule, which has caused major headaches every year as long as I can remember, causes difficulty in areas where children are told to go to the nearest school which happens to be in another county or in another parish and they are already affiliated with a particular different club or parish in their area. It causes considerable difficulty every year. It is a predictable one. Was there any consideration given to dropping that completely or omitting the nearest school rule and coming up with some alternative arrangement? That is my first question.

I am very cognisant of the fact that there is a shortage of school bus drivers. I have highlighted the fact that school bus drivers have been forced to retire due to a policy Bus Éireann has in place which is quite ageist. The bus drivers concerned may be in very good health and may be able to provide medical reports but they are still forced to retire at 70. I have had a number of bus drivers raise this concern with me in my offices in Offaly. I wonder whether the Department has engaged with Bus Éireann to try to revise that rule because the Government is now taking steps to allow people to choose whether they want to remain in employment after the official retirement age or whether they want to leave. They should have that choice. Given that we have a shortage, it should be addressed urgently or we could have chaos again this year, not because of a lack of places but because of a lack of drivers. I merely ask about this change in policy, if it has not already happened. I have certainly raised it. I have asked for Bus Éireann to be brought before the Joint Committee on Transport and Communications because the policy is outdated. I hope there would be something done.

The next point I want to raise is in relation to SET hours. I have had much concern over this from school principals. They really feel aggrieved. They feel they were not consulted. Many principals are frustrated that the hours that they are now left with are less than what they had originally. They are finding it difficult to manage. The changes should be postponed until there is more engagement with school principals on this issue. There was not enough engagement. It was quite rushed and it took many principals by surprise. Principals have been in touch with me to explain that they have to make arrangements with other schools in their clusters on their special education teachers, which also causes a lot of difficulty. Principals are already overburdened. We all have recognised that. Indeed, the Minister herself was a principal. We need to address this issue. We need to stop loading principals with so much responsibility to put everything in place, particularly in relation to SET hours. I have been told that principals cannot even advise teachers if they will have a job in September because they do not have the clusters in place in terms of the local arrangements. I wonder if something could be done to postpone that change until there is further engagement. It would be a reasonable approach to take.

The shortage of teachers has been an ongoing issue for many years. As an acting school principal, I had experience of this. There are very few substitutes to be got at any time, particularly in rural schools. In terms of recruitment and retention, what measures are being taken by the Department to address that specific issue?