Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I apologise but I will have to leave after I ask my questions because there is something else I have to go to. I am certainly very interested in the answers to the questions. I have some very specific ones, as do many of my colleagues here. Are there exceptions in practice to the ten-pupil rule? Is it fixed or are there exceptions here, there and everywhere?

Are some late applications accepted? These questions may be for Bus Éireann and the Department because it seems that some are accepted. Perhaps the delegates might confirm if that is the case.

I wish the Minister was here because I have some serious criticisms which I would not like to direct at the officials. They are really directed at the Minister, but, unfortunately, the officials have to answer them.

There is language used with regard to children with special needs to the effect that the numbers are growing and that the cost is rising, which is a problem. I find the use of such language disturbing. It describes the scheme as being under financial pressure, yet nobody says the State pension scheme or the carers' allowance scheme is under financial pressure. Why is this service deemed to be under financial pressure?

My Fianna Fáil colleagues will speak about the issues surrounding eligibility and catchment areas. I want to ask the delegates about the transport service provided for children with special needs, about which many excuses are given. Some of them are that it takes a long time to organise the tender documents, escorts and so on. Is it also the case that a huge number of applications were not even sanctioned at the beginning of the school year? I received an email from a constituent on 13 September stating she had just received notification that the provision of school transport had been approved. This puts the school principal in a position where they have to seek to hire an escort and Garda clearance. I tabled a parliamentary question about the number of applications for school transport that had not been dealt with for children with special needs. At the start of the year there were 500 cases. Will the delegates confirm if there were still applications in the system?

It has been put to me by parents who were told by Bus Éireann staff that some individuals within Bus Éireann who dealt with the provision of transport for children with special needs had been seconded for the Papal visit. Will the delegates indicate if the answer is "Yes" or "No"? If it is "No", I absolutely accept it, but more than one parent was told that they had, which is why they was such frustration.

I pay tribute to the Bus Éireann staff with whom we deal in seeking answers to representations. It seems they are few in number. We receive emails at all hours of the day and night and it concerns me whether Bus Éireann has the necessary resources to deal with queries and issue responses. There is a particular individual from whom I receive emails even on a Sunday morning. This is a tribute to her, but it is also an indictment of Bus Éireann and the Department that there are not enough staff to deal with these issues. Perhaps the officials might tell us how many staff in the Department deal with school transport issues.