Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)

The Minister of State does not need me to tell him the school transport system is in chaos across this State, but I will do it anyway. Families in my constituency of Waterford are being failed. The system is broken. Parents are exhausted, angry and frustrated. Children are left without a safe and reliable way to get to school. I have been raising this for months. I have written to the Minister of State and his colleague. I have written to Bus Éireann and met parents from every corner of Waterford. The stories I heard again this week are appalling and are the direct result of Government neglect. I was on a Zoom call last night with up to 20 parents from west Waterford alone. In Ballymacarbry, 11 children have been refused tickets to get a school bus to Dungarvan. Parents found out just before term began and appeals were dismissed with copy-and-paste replies. In fact, two of the 11 belatedly got a school bus ticket a couple of weeks after school had started back, with absolutely no rationale for why they were selected, and the other nine were not. Children have been stranded even though there are seats on the bus. In Ardmore, Grange and Kinsalebeg in west Waterford, families were told at the very last minute that their children had no seat, even after using the service for years. Now, children are cycling dark country roads, walking and leaving class early to catch a Local Link bus because the Minister of State’s Department will not implement its own review.

Families already struggling with the cost of living are in many cases forced to pay fees far in excess of a bus ticket for a private Bus Éireann service. In Lismore and the wider district around it, parents were issued tickets for stops miles away. I was at an event for Blackwater Community School last week with the Taoiseach where a fantastic new facility was opened, but the constant refrain from parents in attendance was that while it was fantastic, there were so many kids who could not get there in time to avail of the new facilities. In Grange and Pilltown, families were left in limbo until the day before schools reopened. They were scrambling to find out if their children had a seat. Others are still waiting. This is happening across the county, from Ballymacarbry to Dungarvan, in coastal villages and in the Comeraghs. It is the same dysfunction and distress, with poor or non-existent communication making matters worse. On top of that families of children with additional educational needs – the Minister of State will know this, as we raised it last week – who had to campaign to secure school places have been left high and dry with no transport. It is happening in Waterford and right across the State.

As was mentioned earlier, the 2030 report gave clear solutions but it is gathering dust. This dysfunction cannot be allowed to continue. Families deserve certainty, not chaos. Children deserve a seat on the bus and not another year of neglect. I ask the Government to please take action now.

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