Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent)
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I thank the Chair. Much of what I have to say has already been said. At the beginning of September, I was inundated with calls from constituents right across from Bandon to Bantry, from people in Kilcrohane trying to get to school in Schull and from people in Coomhola trying to get into Bantry. It is terrible when parents who have two children on a bus are told their third child will not to be taken. That is unacceptable. While there is a concessionary ticket, people who have to pay for tickets for two or three children are finding it difficult to find that kind of money. I may be confused in my dates, but I believe the deadline falls on 25 April. Parents with two or three children might have to pay up to €1,000. This is extremely difficult for parents and it may be May or June before they can pull together the children's allowance or whatever else to be able to pay for this. Unfortunately, children are then told they have no place on the bus.

The whole school transport system has to be reviewed. From what I can gather, some of the bus operators have been asked to provide bigger buses for the same money. These bus operators are already stretched to the limit, given the expense of running a bus, carrying out repairs and so forth. In rural communities damage can be done to buses that costs a lot of money to repair. The whole school transport service must be reviewed. Many of the agreements made back when certain schools were closed years ago are now being thrown in the bin.

The closest school rule is a very serious issue.

I would like to think the Department and Bus Éireann would work with us to find solutions. We are picking up the pieces in our constituencies over issues for which they have far more answers than we have. We are pleading with local people on the ground who are being controlled above. Unfortunately, many of the people who make representations to us are not being catered for. They are now paying for taxis to get their children to school. This is incredibly difficult for parents and I pity them. They are not a priority but they should be. It would be interesting to hear what the witnesses have to say on the matter.