Dáil debates

Tuesday, 25 September 2012

Topical Issue Debate

School Transport Availability

6:30 pm

Photo of Ciarán CannonCiarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. The school transport programme is a significant operation. Bus Éireann, which manages the programme on behalf of the Department, covers more than 82 million km per annum as it brings children to and from school. In the last school year, approximately 114,000 children, including more than 8,000 with special educational needs, were transported on a daily basis to schools throughout the country. The school transport network involves approximately 4,000 vehicles, which between them cover more than 82 million kilometres each year.

The Deputy is referring to the changes to school transport eligibility for children attending post-primary schools which took effect from the beginning of the this school year. The main objective of the Department's school transport scheme is to support the safe transport to and from school of children who would have difficulty travelling, for reasons of distance, to their nearest school if such transport were not supported. That is the ethos that pertained when the school transport system was initially introduced and it is the ethos that pertains to this day. Changes in the post-primary school transport scheme were announced in budget 2011 by the Fianna Fáil-Green Party Government. As a result of one of the changes that took effect from the start of this school year, the use of the catchment area system as a means of determining eligibility ceased for all pupils newly entering a post-primary school. From the start of this school year, school transport eligibility for all new pupils entering a post-primary school is determined by reference to the distance they reside from their nearest post-primary school or education centre, having regard to ethos and language. This eligibility criterion will be applied equitably on a national basis.

In general, children who were eligible under the former catchment boundary area system will retain their transport eligibility for the duration of their post-primary education cycle, provided there is no change to their current circumstances. Siblings of these children and other children who are not attending their nearest school may apply for school transport on a concessionary basis only in accordance with the terms of the post-primary school transport scheme. In order to allow parents ample time to consider the school options, a 20-month gap was allowed between the announcement of this measure and the time when parents needed to apply for school transport for this school year. In addition, these changes were posted on the Department's website in October 2011 and the updated scheme was made available on 1 February 2012. In addition, the Department contacted post-primary schools and the relevant education partners directly on two occasions to advise them formally of the changes.

The general approach of the Department to the planning of school infrastructure is to plan on the basis of attendance of pupils at their nearest primary schools. Consequently, those primary schools feed into attendance at the nearest post-primary schools or the nearest post-primary centre generally. The changes announced in post-primary school transport services are in line with this approach and will ultimately result in a more efficient and cost-effective scheme. While it is the prerogative of parents to send their children to the school of their choice, eligibility for school transport is to the nearest school, having regard to ethos and language. Deputy Flanagan used the phrase "local school" on a number of occasions. I suggest that when we are organising the school transport system, the phrase "local school" must mean the nearest school to one's home. That is particularly true at this time of severe economic difficulty. If the Deputy has an issue with the system of measurement used by Bus Éireann to assess exactly how far a school is from a person's home - I gather he has - I will work closely with him to ensure measurements are taken to determine eligibility on a fair and accurate basis.

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