Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the Deputy's points. As a consequence of what was introduced last year, we have seen a 25% increase in provision of places for students on the school bus system, that is, 25,600 places and there has been a 26% increase in the allocation of special education places. There has been a considerable increase in availability of places in the school transport system.

I take the Deputy's point about tickets being allocated, but they were allocated to people who fulfilled the criteria. He will be aware that the criteria are based on whether the students at primary level were 3.2 km from their school or students at post-primary level were 4.8 km from their nearest or next-nearest school. Distance from the schools and paying on time were the criteria.

Seats are empty for a variety of reasons. Schools may open or close at different times. Thus, there will be additional capacity at a given time. Parents, on a given day, might make themselves available to take a child to school. I cannot interfere with that process. I appreciate what the Deputy said about the application process and its being difficult. That is all part of the review process. It is our expectation the review process will be completed in the coming weeks.

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