Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)

If the Deputy wants to pass on the details of the individual case he has mentioned, I will undertake to explore it further with him. Special education needs organisers have expertise in providing special education and assigning special educational supports to individual children on the basis of their unique individual needs. The policy we operate is that transport shall be provided to a centre that is, or can be, resourced to meet the special educational needs of the child. Such a decision is based on the opinion of a person who is professionally qualified to make such an assessment. I agree with the Deputy that there has been a lack of clarity and transparency with regard to this process. That is why we have undertaken to put a code of practice in place that can be easily understood by education professionals, by those involved in education and by parents and families. We must bear in mind that at a time when I am challenged to find €17 million in savings across school transport over the next three years, we need to make the best possible use of the scarce resources we have. The average cost of school transport for a child without special educational needs is approximately €1,000 per annum while the cost for a child with special educational needs is of the order of €7,000 to €9,000, depending on his or her unique requirements. We must be careful not to over-extend ourselves by bringing children to centres which are further away than centres closer to home which are well capable of meeting their needs. If there is a bus passing by the door, there is an opportunity to get on it if there is space available. Perhaps the Deputy will speak about the child in question.

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