Séamus McGrath (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)

There has been a lot of criticism today of the school transport scheme but it has to be acknowledged that in recent times the scale of the scheme has ramped up significantly. Over 180,000 children are transported through the school transport scheme every day. It is a huge number. The programme for Government sets out far more ambition in terms of an additional 100,000. That is very welcome. We all know the obvious benefits, including the social and environmental benefits and so on, of having an effective school transport system in place. It is something we have to aspire to continually improve. Obviously, there are difficulties, including one particular case on which I have engaged with the Minister of State and his staff. I appreciate all the efforts that are being made to try to resolve that case. More generally, the review that was carried out last year brought forward significant recommendations. It is important, as I said, that we continue to scale up the school transport scheme as a whole.

One specific issue that has come to my attention, and it is an easy fix, relates to the distance requirement, which is 3.2 km for a primary school and 4.8 km for a post-primary school. I raise the case of siblings from a family who are travelling from the same area to the same village or town. Let us say I have two children in primary school but the next year one of them goes into post-primary school and no longer qualifies for the scheme. That presents significant logistical issues. That is something we have to be prepared to look at. There are obvious practical difficulties when one member of a family qualifies and another does not. It is effectively useless having one family member qualify when the other does not.

The Government is trying to encourage as many people as possible back into employment and the workforce, regardless of whether they are men and women. Many households are now two-income households. Childcare is obviously a huge barrier to people getting back into the workforce. The simple practical issue of getting children to school is also a significant barrier. If we had an effective school transport scheme, it would be a significant help for parents as they could ensure their children get to school safely through that scheme. Again, that is another benefit and another reason we have to deliver on it.

I heard many speakers raise the over-70s issue. I will add my voice to that. Any approach in respect of age should be evidentially based. It should be based on medical assessment. There should not be a blanket ban on someone because he or she reaches a certain age. We all know people's health differs significantly no matter what age they are. Some people have good health; other people have health issues. We should base it on an evidential approach in a medical assessment. I ask the Minister of State to redouble his efforts there because driver availability is a significant issue in scaling up the school transport scheme.

Specifically in my constituency, one particular route causing difficulty is that from Minane Bridge to Crosshaven. A large number of families are still in contact with me in relation to not having a place on the bus. That particular route serves areas such as Fountainstown and Hoddersfield en route to Crosshaven. The Minister of State's staff have been working on it for me. As I said, I appreciate that, but it is causing significant difficulty. We are a number of weeks into the new school term. These families have still not got traction with Bus Éireann. I have to say, and Bus Éireann was mentioned, that unfortunately I cannot give it a gold star for its communication to us as public representatives. It needs to engage better with us. We are only highlighting the issues and glitches that are there. It would be served better if its staff engaged and communicated in a better way with us as public representatives.

Overall, I appreciate the efforts that are made. We have to put this in perspective in terms of the scale of the school transport scheme. Of course, there will always be difficulties in each of our constituencies that we have to try to work through, which is something the Minister of State is doing. It is about the benefits and importance of the scheme, but also the real difficulties it is causing families. I ask that in the coming week or so we make every effort possible to iron out the remaining difficulties. I thank the Minister of State for facilitating the debate. Many speakers have spoken on it. It is an important issue for us as public representatives.

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