Robert O'Donoghue (Dublin Fingal West, Labour)

I wish to address the ongoing issue of communication, or more accurately the lack thereof, from Bus Éireann with public representatives. Numerous emails from my office and from colleagues I have talked to have gone unanswered. In other cases, I was even asked to provide written consent from constituents confirming I had their permission to contact Bus Éireann on their behalf. I did exactly that, yet weeks later there has still been no response. The current Oireachtas communication line to Bus Éireann is wholly ineffective. We need to consider a simpler and more direct system. Like the Minister of State, I contact many offices throughout the day for my constituents. I get an answer from some within hours. Some come back in a couple of days, but Bus Éireann communication is at times non-existent. I urge him to seriously examine the communications process between Bus Éireann and public representatives. It is not working currently. It must be modernised and made more accountable.

I will turn to school transport issues in Fingal West. There continue to be multiple problems for children trying to access school transport. To be fair, when my office raised the issue of transport for Rush and Lusk Educate Together and the ASD students attending the school, with the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, the matter was resolved in a couple of days. I acknowledge and thank him for his prompt action on that. However, the situation in Kildare town remains deeply concerning. Some 29 students who attend Curragh Community College do not have access to a school bus. These families are doing everything right but are being failed by a lack of planning and communication. The local school in Kildare town is oversubscribed. While a new school was approved as far back as 2018, it only recently received planning permission and construction is yet to begin. It is highly likely that school will not be open in time for the next academic year. The issue was raised directly with the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, who assured Deputy Wall's office that he would personally look into it. However, all that has been received since is a generic reply from his office. These students urgently need a school bus. We cannot continue to punish working families because of poor planning and delays.

I also raise the ongoing issue with the Educate Together school in Rathcoole. Bus Éireann continues to refuse to provide a transport service, insisting parents should simply move their children to another school.

This is simply not an option. There are no available places in the nearby schools, so parents are being placed in an impossible position through no fault of their own.

The situation is unacceptable. Those are just three examples in a long list of school transport issues that have spread countrywide. Bus Éireann's rigid approach and the Department’s lack of flexibility are leaving families stranded. This is a clear example of how communications failures and poor planning directly impact children's education and parents’ daily lives. It is time for a practical, compassionate approach that puts students and families first.

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