Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I heard Dermot O'Leary of the National Bus and Rail Union, NBRU, on the radio some days ago, shortly before the plan was published. He was speaking about whether he thought any additional capacity could be found and he expressed some scepticism. He is a stakeholder and I would hope that any engagement would have included unions such as the NBRU. He, like most of us, would have anticipated additional capacity. It would seem obvious, so many of us were left scratching our heads when the only thing in the roadmap published on Monday was money for hygiene and reconfiguration. That does not seem to be living in the real world. The deadline has been moved, and that is welcome, but 4 August is not very far away. Most parents and schools feel in the dark here. I ask the Minister directly, having asked her before and she did not answer, whether the school transport scheme will carry the same number of children or will parents and families be seeking refunds from Bus Éireann in late August and September. Will 120,000 children be carried?

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