Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish the Minister well in her position. We should compliment everybody involved in the whole school set-up for getting schools opened.

In recent weeks, I have listened to the proposals of the new Government and taken note of its commitments in the programme for Government regarding emissions and having less traffic on the roads. Bus Éireann has made it clear that the Minister or her Department closed the portals three or four weeks ago. I refer to climate change and an equal society. Children are being left on the side of the road by the Department because it would not allow their parents to pay in the past few weeks. The Minister must bear in mind that we have gone through Covid and a time when people were out of work and did not know whether schools would reopen.

I refer to the cohort who are considered to fall into the eligible bracket and asked to send in their medical cards. I am aware of a parent who sent in for a ticket a few months ago, before the so-called closing date, but never got a reply. That individual's child has been left on the side of the road. Will the Minister stand over that? Will the Green Party or Fine Gael, as members of the Government, stand over that, particularly in the context of the commitment to reducing the amount of road traffic? It is a disgrace that parents who are going out to work must try to get a neighbour or another person to bring their child to school or pick them up at a time when people are meant to limit their interactions. Bus Éireann stated - and I hope the Department will confirm this one way or the other - that it was instructed two weeks ago to close the portals. Whatever the portals are, that is the instruction the company received. Bus Éireann will not now engage with parents or anybody else. It is waiting for a few months to see whether it can get more buses on the road. These children travelled on the buses last year and the year before. Bus Éireann was damn well aware that the children would be going to school again this year. If one's sister or brother went to school last year, they will be going to school again this year. I am asking the Minister to go to Bus Éireann tomorrow morning to ensure it opens the portals such that those people can get a place for their children on a bus.

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