Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)

I mentioned earlier that I have asked for a code of practice to be introduced for the provision of school transport to children with special educational needs. I hope that will help to expedite the process. However, I wish to outline the process whereby a child with special educational needs secures a school transport service. The application is completed by the parent and signed by the parent, the school principal and the special educational needs organiser prior to or at the time of first enrolment. Those applications are forwarded by the SENO to the school transport section. Bus Éireann is then requested to provide a report on the distance the child resides from the school of enrolment and the availability of a transport service. Where a suitable service exists, the child may be added to this service. This is a relatively straightforward process and should not take too long. It takes considerably longer to establish a new service, as this may involve the contracting of an individual taxi, which must be tendered by Bus Éireann. Other issues such as the need for wheelchair-accessible vehicles, special transport arrangements or an escort - which is the case for many children with special needs - and Garda vetting of drivers add to the length of time required to set up a new service. Parents may also be offered a special transport grant to take their children to school themselves. Each case is different and presents a unique set of complexities which must be addressed before a transport service can be finalised. Setting up a completely new service is a pretty convoluted and complicated process. However, if the Deputy knows of individual cases that he feels have taken an inordinately long time to process, I will undertake to examine these.

See this speech in context