Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)

It is a pity the Minister could not stay for the debate. However, I have her script in front of me. It says "check against delivery". That is very good advice because the Government is generally very big on sound bites and woefully inadequate when it comes to actual delivery. In her script, the Minister tells us that solutions are being found every single day. Does this not tell us that every single day, issues are arising? The Government had years to plan for this. It has census data and data from the schools. The Minister has a massive Department and people who I am sure are working incredibly hard yet it seems that the Government still finds itself presiding over a shambles every year, with kids unable to get to school and parents getting in trouble at work for being late. Despite this, the Minister and Minister of State somehow managed to ramble into the Chamber and act surprised that the kids who needed a seat on the school bus last year also needed a seat on the school bus this year or, God forbid, there were more kids, different kids or kids living somewhere else who needed seats. The Minister of State has a very well-staffed Department.

People travel for plenty of reasons. Sometimes, they travel because they do not live near the school, and that is fair enough. They travel because they want to access education as Gaeilge or because they want to access non-denominational education or specific religious education. Kids with special needs are being specifically failed repeatedly. It is not appropriate for kids to have to take taxis. That should be a last resort. They should get a seat on the bus. They should not be forgotten by this Government. The Minister of State should give them a seat on the bus - he knows that - but they are left. Up until the last minute, the Government leaves parents waiting to find out how they will get their kids to school. Not everybody has a flexible job or an understanding boss but every parent wants to get his or her child to school safely. Parents simply want the Government to work with them to achieve that.

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