Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for stepping in to take the matter tonight. I do not know what bus na scoile is like in Waterford but in north Kildare it is absolutely dire. In all the years I was a councillor, and since I have become a Deputy, I have never seen anything like the avalanche of messages, requests and emails I am getting from parents in north Kildare, contacting me about bus na scoile. It has been an absolute fiasco. The Department announced free seats without making sure it had the actual seats in the first place. It has led to chaos among families across north Kildare and across the State as well.

I know from a reply to a parliamentary question that the Department did this after a couple of days liaising with Bus Éireann. Bus Éireann only realised the seats were going to be free half an hour before it was formally announced. There is the phrase, "Build it and they will come". If you announce free school bus places, do not be surprised that many hands go up. This has left many children without any tickets this year who had gotten concessionary tickets for many years. They are bitterly disappointed.

I am also bitterly disappointed with the replies I am receiving to parliamentary questions. The Minister said at least 124,000 tickets were given out, with an extra 20,000 places this year. The Government keeps insisting on this figure but it is just not true. In another reply to a parliamentary question, I was told 121,400 were carried in the scheme for the 2021-2022 school year. That is only an extra 3,000 places and not the 20,000 the Minister said there were. I ask the Minister of State not say that in her reply because that is back to school stuff whether one has a school bus place or not.

I wish to raise the issue of the number of mothers who are contacting me because, primarily, this is a gender issue. This goes back to women. It is seen as the woman’s job to get the kids to school. In addition, because of the gender pay gap, it is primarily the women. Women are telling me they will have to give up work to bring their kids to school.

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