Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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I wish to convey a deep sense of anger, frustration and annoyance on the part of hundreds of parents throughout County Laois at the consequences of the recent school transport changes. I refer in particular to the parents of students attending Heywood community school in south County Laois. I remind the Minister that this school was founded in 1990 as a result of a forced amalgamation by the then Department of Education of four schools, the Salesian college Ballinakill - the site of the current Heywood school - the Brigidine convent, Abbeyleix, Abbeyleix vocational school and the Presentation convent, Durrow.

The catchment area of the new Heywood community school was drawn up in accordance with the catchment areas of the four former schools. This was agreed at the time, and I was part of the negotiations as a Deputy for Laois-Offaly. I remind Members that this was not an easy amalgamation. It was mandated by the Department and it took some time to bring about the support of the parents, students and people of County Laois. Now we have seen that agreement unilaterally torn up by the Department of Education and Skills in a way that has given rise to serious frustration. Already, the school has lost six first year students. Three students from the village of The Swan, in County Laois, have no bus ticket. Parents in the Raheen, Shanahoe area of County Laois are in dismay, as they have been told that their children must attend school in the large urban area of Portlaoise.

We are seeing unilaterally on the part of the Department of Education and Skills a breaking of the traditional links between rural areas and rural schools and a breaking of the historic links between rural families and their schools. Students with brothers and sisters attending Heywood community school, which currently has approximately 700 pupils - one of the largest secondary schools in County Laois - have been told they must attend another school. Students in south County Laois have been told they must attend schools across the border in County Kilkenny. I mean no disrespect to the people of County Kilkenny, but I urge the Minister to share my sense of frustration at students being told they cannot avail of school transport and that they cannot attend their local school - a school with 700 students which was the result of a forced amalgamation and the closure of three schools - despite the guarantees given. Students on the other side of County Laois are being told they must attend school in the larger urban area of Portlaoise. Again, Portlaoise is many miles away from them and has no historic or traditional links for them.

I want the Minister to review this matter. I want him to comment in particular on the mistakes that have been made, with particular reference to the measurement of the areas. My information is that the measurements ascertaining the revised catchment districts refer to the old school in Portlaoise, which is at least 1,000 m from the new school. The Minister will be aware that parents enrol students in secondary schools in January and buy uniforms, books, tracksuits, iPads - in the case of Heywood - and so on. They have already attended to these needs by the time they are told in August that transport is being cut and that the students are in the wrong school. This is unacceptable and I ask the Minister to address the issue.

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. The school transport programme is a significant operation. Bus Éireann, which manages the programme on behalf of the Department, covers more than 82 million km per annum as it brings children to and from school. In the last school year, approximately 114,000 children, including more than 8,000 with special educational needs, were transported on a daily basis to schools throughout the country. The school transport network involves approximately 4,000 vehicles, which between them cover more than 82 million kilometres each year.

The Deputy is referring to the changes to school transport eligibility for children attending post-primary schools which took effect from the beginning of the this school year. The main objective of the Department's school transport scheme is to support the safe transport to and from school of children who would have difficulty travelling, for reasons of distance, to their nearest school if such transport were not supported. That is the ethos that pertained when the school transport system was initially introduced and it is the ethos that pertains to this day. Changes in the post-primary school transport scheme were announced in budget 2011 by the Fianna Fáil-Green Party Government. As a result of one of the changes that took effect from the start of this school year, the use of the catchment area system as a means of determining eligibility ceased for all pupils newly entering a post-primary school. From the start of this school year, school transport eligibility for all new pupils entering a post-primary school is determined by reference to the distance they reside from their nearest post-primary school or education centre, having regard to ethos and language. This eligibility criterion will be applied equitably on a national basis.

In general, children who were eligible under the former catchment boundary area system will retain their transport eligibility for the duration of their post-primary education cycle, provided there is no change to their current circumstances. Siblings of these children and other children who are not attending their nearest school may apply for school transport on a concessionary basis only in accordance with the terms of the post-primary school transport scheme. In order to allow parents ample time to consider the school options, a 20-month gap was allowed between the announcement of this measure and the time when parents needed to apply for school transport for this school year. In addition, these changes were posted on the Department's website in October 2011 and the updated scheme was made available on 1 February 2012. In addition, the Department contacted post-primary schools and the relevant education partners directly on two occasions to advise them formally of the changes.

The general approach of the Department to the planning of school infrastructure is to plan on the basis of attendance of pupils at their nearest primary schools. Consequently, those primary schools feed into attendance at the nearest post-primary schools or the nearest post-primary centre generally. The changes announced in post-primary school transport services are in line with this approach and will ultimately result in a more efficient and cost-effective scheme. While it is the prerogative of parents to send their children to the school of their choice, eligibility for school transport is to the nearest school, having regard to ethos and language. Deputy Flanagan used the phrase "local school" on a number of occasions. I suggest that when we are organising the school transport system, the phrase "local school" must mean the nearest school to one's home. That is particularly true at this time of severe economic difficulty. If the Deputy has an issue with the system of measurement used by Bus Éireann to assess exactly how far a school is from a person's home - I gather he has - I will work closely with him to ensure measurements are taken to determine eligibility on a fair and accurate basis.

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for his reply. He referred specifically to transport "on a concessionary basis" in accordance with the terms of the scheme. I ask him to elaborate on the future of the concessionary scheme. Could a student who has attended a school for a year find himself or herself without any transport to that school? Does the Department envisage that a student in such a position would have to change to a different school midstream, perhaps at the start of second year? Is he aware that private buses can cost more than €900 per annum? How many mistakes have been accepted by the Department in cases involving this specific school? Can he confirm that the measurement used by Bus Éireann relates to a school that is no longer situated at Tower Hill in Portlaoise but is now situated 1,000 metres away? If that is the case, it indicates to me that the process is not accurate. What has the Minister of State done since this issue was first brought to his attention after the school year started at the end of August? How many mistakes have been found by the Department? Will the Minister of State accept that the measurement is fundamentally wrong? Bus Éireann's measurement relates to an area that is 1,000 metres from where the school is now situated. I am seeking clarification on this matter. The area of Portlaoise that is used for the purposes of measurement is Tower Hill, but the school there has been closed for more than a year. The new school is located at Borris Road in Portlaoise, which is at least 1,000 metres from the former site at Tower Hill.

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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Bus Éireann has tried as best it can this year to accommodate children on concessionary seats on buses that serve children who are eligible for Heywood College and a number of other schools across the country. Parents should be aware that these seats are made available on a concessionary basis. If they choose to use them, there is no guarantee that the concessionary option will remain open to them in the future. Parents will continue to have the option of accessing school transport to their nearest school, if they choose to do so. The Deputy also asked whether mistakes have been made. My understanding is that when the distance between a child's home and his or her school is disputed, Bus Éireann uses a specially equipped vehicle that can accurately measure - to within a metre - the exact distance between the child's home and the school. Deputy Flanagan contends that Bus Éireann used the wrong location within Portlaoise when making the measurement in this instance. I will undertake to interact with Bus Éireann at the earliest possible time tomorrow morning to ensure such a mistake has not been made. If it has been made, it will be rectified immediately.

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State.