Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)

The Minister of State is correct that this is a legacy issue. The devil is in the detail. I urge the Minister of State, in consultation with the Minister and his colleague, the Minister of State at the Department of Education and Skills, Deputy Ciaran Cannon, to tread very carefully. On the alleged savings, while the Department has stated the impact will be minimal in terms of pupil numbers, there will be a disproportionate impact on small schools in respect of two matters. The first concerns the change in the number required for the establishment or retention of a school bus service from seven to ten. In small schools which are predominantly but not exclusively to be found in rural areas increasing the number from seven to ten to retain or establish a bus service will in many circumstances mean that from 20% to 40% of pupils will need to be using school transport. This will have very severe consequences for the viability of the schools in question.

The second matter is that the closed school rule could mean that members of families will be sent in two directions. I suggest a solution that the Minister of State might consider. The catchment area of a closed school should be treated as a single catchment area for the future. Therefore, the entitlement would relate to the central school-----

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