Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Like previous speakers, I wish to raise the issue of school transport, which is a crucial element in the delivery of education services. In my constituency, this year in particular and in previous years, there have been difficulties with concessionary tickets and places on buses in Maynooth, Leixlip and Carbury. I hope this issue can be resolved and I believe it can be. It would be a pity, having gone to all the trouble the Minister has gone to in regard to the delivery of essential school and other education services, if the reopening of schools were to falter on the crucial issue of transport provision. These are not simple issues because there may be different interpretations of the provisions of schemes. Bus Éireann, for example, may have arrived at a particular interpretation of some of the eligibility criteria. In the emergency situation in which we find ourselves, whatever needs to be done should be done to resolve the remaining issues that are causing difficulty for children in getting to school.

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