Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

This week, we have heard proposals from Government on the expansion of the school transport scheme, which is really welcome. What we have heard this week from the Minister will do nothing to alleviate the problems that rear their heads annually, like clockwork, in August and September, for many areas across the country. Our own constituency in Wicklow is hit particularly badly by these issues and in Wicklow, a number of students still do not have the bus service that they were promised. We are seven months into that now. The issues that we are facing in Wicklow and other parts of the country relate to driver shortages. That is the primary reason for these problems. We have heard nothing from the Minister about how she is going to fix that. Applications for 2024 will open shortly and parents are really worried about whether they will get a place for their child on the school bus. To alleviate their concerns, I ask the Minister to give a guarantee on behalf of the Government that when any eligible children receive a ticket for a school bus, that bus will turn up for them in September and they can rely on it.

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