Dáil debates

Tuesday, 18 May 2021

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate

School Transport

11:50 pm

Photo of Pat BuckleyPat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister for attending. We know it is an ungodly hour. We have had issues with school places in recent years, and today I looked through my records going back to 2017. We also have a problem with school transport. The Minister is well aware of the over-subscription for schools, in particular schools in Midleton, Youghal, Cobh and Carrigtwohill. There has been a lot of juggling in recent weeks trying to get people into schools.

I want to give three examples of the problems. One letter, which is a bit ironic, states:

I am a bit confused as to why there is an assumption that attending a school in County Waterford would have regard for family ethos. We live in County Cork in St. Catherine's Parish. Curraglass national school is where we cast our electoral votes.

The Department replied that this family's application has been processed, the child is not eligible for school transport as it is not the nearest school to the family’s home and that, having regard to ethos and language, the nearest school to their home is in Tallow, County Waterford. It is ridiculous that they cannot get a school place and have to send the child to a different county.

Another letter states that the son had been offered a first year place, after a long stressful wait, in the next village from Midleton, which is Carrigtwohill.Unfortunately, as they had not chosen the nearest school, they will not be able to access the Bus Éireann bus as the school does not qualify.

A lady writes of a situation where most of the siblings in the family had gone to school in Midleton from Killeagh, which is the other side of Castlemartyr, between Youghal and Midleton. Now, the last child has been told they will have to go to school in Youghal.

There is a lot of stress and confusion because people cannot go to the school nearest to them. Is there any way the Department, Bus Éireann or whoever operates these buses can come up with a common-sense solution and deal with these cases individually?

Photo of David StantonDavid Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the office of the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this matter and thank the Minister for being here at this late hour. The Minister is aware of the pressures in east Cork with respect to secondary school places. To give an example, one woman was told earlier this year that her daughter was placed in one school at No. 274 on the waiting list, at No. 256 in another school and at No. 124 in another school, and she had applied to all three. Obviously, the stress and strain of that is enormous and that is only one family out of hundreds.

I acknowledge the work that has been done in the last while by the Minister and her officials, school principals and the education and training board with respect to making extra school places available. However, as the Minister will understand, parents accepted the first place they were offered when they saw the length of the waiting lists. They were not aware that being placed on a waiting list is considered a refusal to admit and can be appealed, so most of them had not appealed. Before they use a section 29 appeal, they should get a review from the board of management, but parents do not know that, or that it must be made within 21 days and that the appeal has to be done within 63 days. One would almost have to be a barrister to follow how the appeal system works, and this is before they can go and look for school transport. It is extremely complicated.

As I have suggested previously, in the first instance, the Minister might consider having Carrigtwohill and Midleton as one education centre for school transport. At a stroke, that would solve a whole range of problems for parents who are faced with having to drive children to school because they did not get into the nearest school because they did not appeal, or because they did not do a section 29 appeal, and so on and so forth. Parents have been stressed all year, and this involves hundreds of parents and families because of the waiting lists.

I am glad the Minister is present. I am still not sure that all the students that applied have places and, from what I can figure out, there could be 50, 60 or 70 students without places for September. I would like the Minister to take note of that and to again go back to her officials to check it out.

Photo of Norma FoleyNorma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputies for raising this matter. Before I address the specific issues raised, I would like to provide Members with an outline of the extent of the school transport service and what it entails.

School transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department. In the current school year, over 114,000 children, including over 14,700 children with special educational needs, are transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country at a cost of over €224.7 million in 2020.

The purpose of the Department's school transport scheme is, having regard to available resources, to support the transport to and from school of children who reside remote from their nearest school. Under the terms of the primary and post-primary scheme, children are eligible for school transport if they satisfy the distance criteria and are attending their nearest school or education centre as determined by the Department or Bus Éireann, having regard to ethos and language.

All children who are eligible for school transport and who complete the application and payment process on time will be accommodated on school transport services for the 2021-22 school year, where such services are in operation. Children who are not eligible for school transport may apply for transport on a concessionary basis only and will be facilitated where spare seats are available after eligible children have been accommodated. Where the number of ineligible children exceeds the number of spare seats available, Bus Éireann allocates tickets for the spare seats using an agreed selection process. Concessionary transport is subject to a number of terms and conditions, including the availability of spare seats on an existing service and payment of the annual charge. Routes will not be extended or altered, additional vehicles will not be introduced, nor will larger vehicles or extra trips using existing vehicles be provided to cater for children travelling on a concessionary basis.

I understand that some parents may have a concern that they would not be considered eligible for transport to the next-nearest school if, due to the enrolment pressures mentioned by the Deputies, their nearest school is full. I would like to reassure them that in cases where the Department is satisfied that the nearest school is full, eligibility for school transport will be determined based on the distance that children reside from their next-nearest school, having regard to ethos and language. If a family has further information in regard to the closest school being full, they should contact the school transport section of the Department.

In October 2019, my predecessor announced a review of the school transport scheme with a view to taking a fresh look at the service and its broader effectiveness and sustainability. Given the evolving situation with Covid-19, the work of the steering group had been delayed. However, an initial meeting of the steering group was recently held in order to recommence the process, which will continue over the coming period. The review is being conducted to ensure that the school transport system is fit for purpose and that it serves students and their families adequately. This review will build on the proposals in the programme for Government as they relate to school transport, including examining the options to reduce car journeys and assessing how the school transport scheme can work in liaison with the Safe Routes to Schools programme; and examining the options for providing better value and a better service for students, including examining issues such as the nearest or next-nearest school, which I know is of particular interest to the Deputies.

It is planned that the steering group will report to me on an interim basis as the review progresses with a view to presenting a final report later this year with recommendations on the future operation of the Department’s school transport scheme.

The steering group will report to me initially on preliminary findings on eligibility before moving to consider and report on broader issues such as the objectives of the scheme and its alignment with other initiatives and wider Government policy. This steering group is due to report to me shortly with its preliminary report. I thank the Deputies for raising this matter and for affording me the opportunity to provide an outline of the extent of the school transport scheme.

Photo of Pat BuckleyPat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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Some of this is ironic. I have a reply to a parliamentary question in 2018, and much of the Minister's response is actually in it. The Minister mentioned a review. I am sure she is aware of the document "The East Cork Secondary School Crisis - A Profile of East Cork Population Demographics and Other Rationale". I do not know about her office but the Department definitely has a copy. It might be a handy addition to the steering group. I have three brief questions. Has she a date for when the review will be actually be carried out? How long will the families have to wait? Will it be ready for October 2021 and the enrolment of secondary school places?

I understand where the Minister is coming from but a common sense approach seems to be lacking here. The families are struggling and there is paperwork and more paperwork because someone in the Department cannot figure out that if one school is full, they should go to the other school.

Photo of David StantonDavid Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Is the Minister saying that she will ease the requirements with respect to the nearest school criteria for east Cork given the waiting lists there were so long? Application forms for school transport should be submitted by the last Friday in April each year. Many parents did not know what place they had by that date and they still do not know. Then there is the issue of having to repeatedly appeal as I said earlier. Will the Minister relax that? Will she consider putting Carrigtohill and Midleton in one catchment area for the school transport? Would she agree that that would solve a lot of problems immediately?

To support my colleague, Deputy Buckley, can the Minister tell us whether the Department is seriously looking at building another secondary school or opening one in temporary accommodation in September 12 months? The numbers I have seen indicate that we will be back again next year and it will be much worse and one answer would be another second level school. I know Educate Together is looking for one. Will the Minister comment on that?

Photo of Norma FoleyNorma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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There have been particular challenges in east Cork but substantial progress has been made in the provision of places in the area. I acknowledge the ongoing goodwill and co-operation from schools on the ground which have very much engaged with the Department in making provision available for September 2021 in allocating places. That is the result of an ongoing engagement which has been proactive and positive.

On Deputy Buckley's queries, as I stated in my reply the work on the review is up and running. There will be an interim report which will be with me in the not-too-distant future and will be in advance of late summer. I am looking at the full report coming on stream by the end of the year. It is a substantial body of work on making sure the provision of transport is as it should be but it will be valuable.

The point was made about people not being sure of the schools that might be available to them to attend. There was always an opportunity for people to make Bus Éireann aware that they had applied to a number of schools and when they were accepted by a particular school they could let it be known then.