Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I missed his point on how much the saving will amount to, so he might repeat that. There is very little public transport in many rural communities and we need to know how many students this measure will affect. When the planners were introducing this change, did they know the effect it would have? Does the Minister agree that these cuts, if implemented, will radically alter the social fabric of many communities in rural Ireland? Again, it comes back to a point I made in regard to a recent question, namely, for those outside the system it is seen as another stealth tax on families in rural Ireland. How much will we actually save and what effect will it have in regard to the social fabric, schools and families in these areas?

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