Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

As a member of the Green Party I may believe in recycling, but that was almost verbatim the answer that was received to the parliamentary question submitted on 1 February. I would have hoped to see some movement forward since then. For many children, the school bus is their first experience of public transport. Indeed, that was the case for me, back in the middle ages when I was taking the school bus. Perhaps we should not base policy on specific instances but parents in Butlerstown, my home parish, are paying privately for school bus transport to Tramore and the costs are going through the roof. The need is already proven. They are doing this themselves to get children to the nearest available school. I can say, as a vocal advocate for active travel, including walking and cycling, that there is no earthly way I would put my 14-year-old on a bike on those roads, knowing the traffic. The need is there and has been proven and we need to build flexibility into the system.

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