Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Yes, I am just wrapping up with my final question. There is a whole different debate about school transport, but the point I wish to make is that much of the Bus Éireann fleet in rural areas throughout the country is tied up in the mornings and afternoons with bringing children to and from school. My home village of Parteen is an example because there is no bus service that goes in and out from there to Limerick city. A Bus Éireann coach goes out in the morning, collects children and brings them to the school gate. This fulfils a contract for the Department of Education. It then leaves the school gate, entirely empty of passengers, and returns to the Bus Éireann depot in Limerick. I have brought up this issue many times with the Minister, Deputy Foley. I have mentioned it to the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan. If there was a little bit of smart thinking, surely we could analyse how that bus goes out on a contract with the Department of Education, turns around, and returns to the depot as a Bus Éireann vehicle. Surely, with a little imaginative thinking, that could provide at a minimum a morning and afternoon service. Perhaps the NTA could advise on that situation. That is just one village, but it is happening all over the country. Many contracts are of course being fulfilled by private operators, but I think the NTA needs to have a chat with Bus Éireann in particular. How many of its vehicles are on the road each morning? This is not so relevant to the city area but let us take a village in the west of Ireland that may not have a bus service, or which may have a skeletal one. It is devastating, particularly for the older people in the village, to see an empty coach, which is a fabulous 241-registration vehicle, returning to the depot in the morning when it is empty. We are only 5 km from Limerick city but we do not have a service to bring us into it.