Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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No it is not, and it cannot be. In my own parish, which is in a very rural area, I was in a two-teacher school as a young boy. That two-teacher school now has just over four teachers. They have never had a bus service because the vast majority of the children attending that school attended from within a small radius. If one was to attempt to reflect parish loyalties and county loyalties in the school transport system, it would cost a multiple of what it costs at the moment. If we tell parents that we will transport their child to the nearest school at a very reasonable cost for families who have not got a medical card, and free of charge for those who do have a medical card, then I think it is a major support by the State for rural families across the country.