Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

I was landed with this at the last moment but perhaps it will clarify the matter. Under the terms of the Department of Education and Science school transport scheme a pupil is eligible for transport if he or she resides 4.8 km or more from his or her local post-primary education centre, that is, the centre serving the catchment area in which he or she lives. The scheme is not designed to facilitate parents who choose to send their children to a post-primary centre outside the catchment in which they reside. However, children who are fully eligible for transport to the post-primary centre in the catchment in which they reside may apply for transport on a concessionary basis to a post-primary centre outside their own catchment area, otherwise known as catchment boundary transport. These children can only be facilitated if spare seats are available on the bus after all other eligible children travelling——

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