Erin McGreehan (Louth, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Minister of State for being here. School transport problems, unfortunately, are an annual event and we can rely on them happening every year. I meet frustrated parents. We all get emails and phone calls about stranded children, no certainty and a remarkably unfair lottery system. The majority of children still do not get access to any bus route. The children of Louth and every county deserve a school transport system that works and is reliable, fair and safe. We have heard many reports this evening, as well as in the media and in our inboxes, of routes not operating, children left stranded and families waiting for promised services. These are not minor glitches; they have a huge impact on families.

I thank the Minister of State for working on all our requests over the summer and in the past few weeks on school transport. It has made a difference but not every problem is fixed. In 2025-26, the scheme is projected to provide transport for more than 180,000 students. This is about 19% of all enrolments. Costs have doubled since 2019 from €219 million to €509 million. Obviously, there is demand. There are fee waivers and growing obligations for contributing but we still have the same percentage of students able to avail of school buses as in 2019. I really want to look at that. If we are spending double and it is still around 20% of students using school transport, we are not doing what we need to do.

There are high fees for families. Families are willing to pay them and I acknowledge some fees are paid but the eligibility criteria are very restrictive. The distance and nearest school criteria do not work for every family. I am particularly thinking of north Louth. Children in Omeath and Carlingford do not go to their nearest school, or to their second nearest school, which would be in Dundalk. Many go to Bush Post Primary School and there is chaos at that school every morning and evening. It is a nightmare. Most parents drive to collect their children because, number one, there are no buses and, number two, it is unsafe to allow a child to walk to the school. The safe routes to school programme works to a certain degree but for many families the car is the only option. It is the only option I have to send my children to secondary school and indeed primary school.

There are pilot projects going on around the country but I agree with Deputy Malcolm Byrne. We need to get rid of these pilots. We know the problems and have been dealing with them for years. We need to kick off the shackles and actually deal with the problems. In County Louth, we had cancellations of buses in Clogherhead and Collon days before schools started. Parents were getting the word that their children was not getting the lotto ticket for the buses. It leaves children stranded and parents unable to get to work. It puts worry and stress on families to not be able to get children to school. Even when parents have the ability and will to pay, they are not getting their children to school. We must get the reviews and recommendations processed and working straight away. The evidence supports lowering eligibility distances, removing the nearest school constraints and expanding the services. We need timelines. Pilots are grand but we must not be stuck in perpetual trial mode. Capacity is a huge problem in rural areas, as are availability of buses and driver shortages.

I think everybody in this room would agree that not allowing over-70s to drive a school bus is a ludicrous rule that needs to be changed. I have an awful lot more to say but my time is up.

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