Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish the Minister well in her brief and compliment her on getting the schools open. Even though there are a lot of issues to deal with, I believe she will work to resolve them. The issue I wish to raise is the fact that Bus Éireann's school transport application system has been closed for the past four weeks. When parents tried to book their children in for transport in early August, they were told it was too late. The Department of Education and Skills allocated €11.3 million for the cleaning of buses, to be distributed by Bus Éireann. Only 50% of that money was given to private operators, even though they provide 90% of school services.

The money that has been allocated equates to between €4.50 and €8.50 per day for private operators.

Deputy O'Donnell referred to the difficulties in Limerick. I have been contacted by 40 families in east Limerick. The children attend schools such as John the Baptist community school in Hospital, and Coláiste Iósaef, Coláiste Chiaráin or Desmond College in Newcastle West. My office has been inundated with requests for help from people who cannot get a place on a bus - even though they had a place last year - because they are considered to be the holders of concessionary tickets. I have spoken to providers who offered to put on bigger buses but were told by Bus Éireann that it will not pay for them. This is an absolute disgrace. The private bus operators who provide 90% of the service have been told by Bus Éireann that it will not allow them to put on bigger buses. If they put on those buses, it would be possible to cater for all the people to whom I have referred. Front-line workers all over the country are trying to keep a roof over their heads in these hard times, but now Bus Éireann wants people to give up their jobs in order to be able to drive their children to school. This cannot go on any longer. I am calling on the Minister to immediately intervene with Bus Éireann and investigate what it has done with the money from the Department of Education and why it is stopping bus operators from putting on bigger buses which can facilitate the required services and get young people back to school safely.

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