Michael Lowry (Tipperary North, Independent)

The difficulty with the new scheme as it has been put in place is that the people who make the decisions about the routes have no geographical knowledge whatsoever. These decisions are made by bureaucrats. If one knew the areas concerned one would realise that the decisions are ridiculous. There are considerable anomalies in this scheme. I have no doubt that school principals will be angry and aggrieved because they will lose students as a result of this revised system. Parents will be frustrated and angry because they will have to pay €350. Students will be annoyed in many cases because they will be unable to attend the schools that their siblings attend. The problem with the scheme is that it is too rigid and there is no flexibility with the decision-making structure. I call on the Minister of State to take local knowledge into account and to allow for some of the decision making processes to take place locally and to involve the local transport authorities in the areas.

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