Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The second answer was much clearer than the first, which I appreciate. There are 2,800 applicants left, but the Minister has not yet told me how many of those would have been eligible had they applied on time. The website had to go down during the middle of the summer for a period because it had to be updated when the free transport scheme was introduced. I applaud the scheme, but it had its gremlins and caused confusion. Bus Éireann has admitted that there was a problem where people with Yahoo email addresses did not get the reminder that the rest did.

There was a little confusion. I have never had to deal with as many late eligibles as I have this year. In many cases, they applied in April but did not confirm in July because of the confusion during the summer. Is consideration still being given to granting these applicants school transport? Is fearr déanach ná go brách, or better later than never.

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