Mr. Seán Ó Foghlú:

I do not want to comment about individual situations but I will comment about the situation in principle.

If we were to say to Bus Éireann you can run bigger buses where there are not enough eligible pupils for them, that is a policy change that costs money. It can be done but it is a policy change that costs money, and it would have to be applied across the country and in all areas. We have to have a consistent national policy. Yes, that could be done. Yes, it could cost a lot of money because Bus Éireann run buses of different sizes at different times. Yes, it can be done but, yes, it could cost a lot of money.

In relation to the amalgamations, the policy view was taken arising from the value for money, VFM, review. There is a very good example in the VFM of a few Catholic schools that happen to be in the same Catholic parish, where parents were living closer to one school but only could get school transport to the school further away. To be honest, we cannot set a scheme in stone in relation to amalgamations which were made 50 years ago.