Bobby Aylward (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I accept the Minister of State's point that he has to operate within criteria that have been laid out for the scheme. It is our job as legislators and the Minister of State's job as Minister to address problems where they arise. There is a problem in rural Ireland in particular. The demographics of rural Ireland have changed because during the good times more people built in rural areas, such that more children need to be accommodated by the service. The changes that were made in 2010-11 were in response to the financial crisis. We are out of recession, in recovery anden routeto prosperous times again. The onus is on the Minister of State to review this scheme, as he has promised over the past two years he would do, with a view to the introduction of a scheme that is fit for purpose. As I said, the demographics of rural Ireland have changed. Mothers and fathers now have to work. The day of one parent going out to work and the other remaining in the home is gone. Many people live in rural areas and they depend on the school transport system to get their children to school and we are ignoring this. It is wrong to tell a child of the third generation - in terms of a attending a particular school - that he or she must attend a school in an area to which he or she has no connection. It is wrong when his or her connection is to the parish school attended by the child's parents and grandparents. We must take cognisance of this and change the system to suit the needs of students and parents. I ask the Minister of State to take this on board.

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