Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Statements on school transport do not do justice to what we are being asked to speak to. More than school transport, I am being asked by parents who have contacted me on this issue to give voice to the fact that their children, often children with acute vulnerabilities and additional needs, are being excluded from their basic right to an education.

I do not doubt for a second that organising school transport on scale is a logistical challenge, but nor do I feel for a second that it is one that should be considered insurmountable. It cannot be considered so.

5 o’clock

This enormous failure is being felt in the homes of families the length and breadth of the country. Compounding this failure is that not only does it occur annually but it seems to be getting worse. In 2021 the Minister's office commenced a review of the post-primary transport scheme. It is now approaching two-and-a-half years later. Where are the findings of the review? How has nothing been published in the years that have passed? Does the Minister find this administrative lethargy on an issue of such importance to be acceptable? I appreciate the Minister referenced the review in her opening remarks and I had prepared my remarks prior to hearing her contribution. The Minister's opening remarks did not give any sense it will be forthcoming soon. We need to see the review. It is unacceptable.

In the absence of logic on the issue I want to paint a picture of a particular child in my constituency whose family contacts me every week and sometimes twice a week to give voice to their situation with school transport. Tristan is a young lad in my constituency who was excited to begin secondary school in Coolock Community College where he was able to attain a place in one of its new ASD units. He has been availing of school transport since the age of five. In May his mother was relieved to receive an email from Bus Éireann informing the family that Tristan would be eligible for school transport throughout his time in secondary school. Needless to say, that transport offer has yet to materialise. Tristan's family are stretched to the bone trying to compensate for this atrociously poor service while keeping some degree of normality in Tristan's educational experience. His mother is an SNA in my constituency. She has had to miss days of work. She has extracted all of her resources in family and friends to try to get her son to school. Her mother, who is 73 years of age, has had to take up driving again to ensure Tristan gets to school in Coolock. Half an hour before she drops Tristan to his school she drops his sister at a different school. She has to be dropped off in the school yard 45 minutes before school begins so that Tristan is not late for the school he is in, which is 5 km or 6 km up the road. This is the pressure being placed on families throughout the country.

Deputy Catherine Murphy has asked me to give voice to the fact that in her constituency in Kildare pupils who do not get a place in their first choice of school, which they sometimes assess based on public transport, will get a place in their second or third choice of school. Because this second or third choice school is further away there is no place on the bus to get the children there. Large school campuses, such as those in Maynooth where two schools with more than 1,000 pupils are on the same campus, or Piper's Hill in Naas, draw students from a large catchment area. However, little thought is give to how pupils will get to these schools. Dozens of pupils, such as those in Straffan who must get to Maynooth, are experiencing the same problems again this year as were identified last year. This cannot be seen as acceptable. It piles stress and cost on parents. It also means that traffic congestion becomes inevitable in such scenarios. This goes against the Government's policies on reducing traffic. It adds a cost for families of between €750 and €800 per pupil.

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