Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. It is one about which the Minister of State, Deputy Tom Hayes, has also spoken. It is an issue that has arisen in a number of places and not just in Tipperary, which I think Deputy Healy acknowledges. The solution regarding a combination of services provided through the Department of Education and Skills and the Department and Health is not really a school transport one. I have sympathy for the issue. It is something I have been involved in before in other scenarios. Other cases were brought to me where we have tried to work with the Department of Health to find solutions. Solutions have generally been found. We had a case last year which I do not want to outline but in respect of which the Departments - rightly - came together. What the Deputy is saying is that we have a policy issue to fix.

I agree to talk to my Department and the Department of Health to determine how we can fix this. I am not of the view that the solution involves school transport. The issue is the provision of services between the Department of Health and the Department of Education and Skills. I will raise the matter to see if there is anything we can do in any policy area to address the problem. The difficulty for my Department is that we do not get involved in the provision of health related services. That is a matter for the Department of Health, as I think the Deputy acknowledges. I will talk to colleagues in both Departments to see if anything can be done to improve this. It has caused difficulty in a couple of cases. I agree that we have a duty to find a solution. I will provide feedback to the Deputy. If he wants to provide me with the specific details of the case, I will certainly investigate it personally. On the overall policy issue, there is ongoing work which might help in this regard. I will certainly add to that conversation to see if we can fast-track matters.

See this speech in context