Keira Keogh (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

School transport is causing frustration and stress for many families across rural Ireland. I refer specifically to the eligibility criterion for nearest and second-nearest schools. This requirement fails to reflect family circumstances, school preferences and logistical realities on the ground. It is simply too rigid and does not reflect modern Irish society. To give an example, the Bus Éireann portal advised a mother that St. Gerald’s College in Castlebar was her son’s nearest school but failed to take into account that the boy did not even meet the criteria for St. Gerald’s because his primary school only feeds into Rice College and Sancta Maria College. At the Fianna Fáil Ard-Fheis last year, the then Minister for Education, Deputy Norma Foley, agreed with my point and said that, under the current scheme, students have to attend their nearest school to qualify for the transport scheme and that we are now going to introduce a system where we remove that criterion and give them greater choice and flexibility. When will this happen?

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