Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein)
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I am raising this matter because, after all that our schoolchildren and their families have been through over the past 12 to 18 months, they can do without the seemingly endless bureaucracy and battles they face in securing school transport. Every year, parents in Tipperary are left struggling to get spaces on school buses under the school transport scheme. In some instances, people have been told that, due to distance limits, they cannot get tickets despite buses for the schools they have chosen passing their houses every morning. Sometimes, those buses are not even full. In other cases, parents of children with additional needs have found that the scheme gives no consideration to the fact that the most suitable schools for their children may not be the nearest schools, which is the requirement under the scheme.

Recently, a constituent wrote to me. She has a daughter with additional educational needs who will be moving from a particular mid-Tipperary school to the Presentation Secondary School in Thurles, but she is running into problems with school transport because Thurles is not the nearest school to them. They have chosen Thurles for the simple reason that it best supports the daughter's educational needs and has a teacher with the specialist training she needs, but her mother is having to battle to secure a place.

The family of a young chap in Rearcross, County Tipperary, applied for a ticket to attend a school in Newport. The bus passes his gate every day. His brothers get that bus, but he has been turned down because he is 300 m too far from the school. I do not know whether Google Maps is being used, but citing a distance of 300 m when his siblings use the same bus is crazy.

No matter what the needs of a child are, the current scheme does not take into consideration the geography of many areas in rural Ireland, especially in a large county like Tipperary. For example, a school bus passing someone's gate may not be going to the school that the Department declares should be attended. The issue needs to be addressed once and for all. Families should not be going through this after all they have put up with over the past 12 to 18 months.

The first example I gave was of a young girl. Her family want to send her to a particular school because it has a teacher with the specialist training she needs. It is crazy that, in 2021, the Department says that children cannot use a school because of bureaucracy or someone sitting behind a desk using Google Maps. In the case of the young chap in Rearcross, we have discovered what the problem is. The Department measures a point from his house to the middle of Newport, which is where the 300 m measurement arises. From his house to the school is not measured, though. We are asking that a complete review of the scheme be undertaken as quickly as possible.

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. Before I address it specifically, I wish to provide the House an outline of the extent of the school transport service.

School transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department. In the current school year, more than 114,000 children, including more than 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 more than €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 - 3.2 km at primary level and 4.8 km at post-primary level - and are attending their nearest schools or education centres 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 are accommodated on school transport services for the 2021-2022 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 and larger vehicles or extra trips using existing vehicles will not be provided to cater for children travelling on a concessionary basis.

As referenced by the Deputy, a review of the school transport scheme is under way 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 steering group's work on the review has been delayed. However, I am pleased to confirm that 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 serves students and their families adequately. The review will build on the proposals in the programme for Government as they relate to school transport, for example, by examining the options to reduce car journeys, 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 issues such as the nearest or next nearest school.

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 regarding 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.

Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister can read from a script like that all she likes, but the rules of the scheme are not reflective of the reality of rural schools and their large catchment areas. In a letter about the school transport scheme for children with special educational needs, the Minister told me that "children are eligible for transport where they have special educational needs arising from a diagnosed disability and are attending the nearest recognised mainstream school, special class/special school or unit, that is or can be resourced, to meet their special educational needs". The term "nearest school" limits their options.

Will the Minister guarantee me and the families across the country that, however long it takes for the report to be put in her hand, she will address this problem well before the children are due back in school and she will not leave it until the last minute to announce a half-hearted attempt to resolve it? Parents should not have to fight with the Minister or Bus Éireann so that their children can go to the schools they deem best suited to their children. They have been through enough. Please do not inflict more hardship on them.

The example in Rearcross shows how crazy the system is. That young man's brothers are getting on a bus that passes their gate, yet the Department says that he is not eligible for the same transport. It is not an isolated case. Every Deputy, probably including the Minister, is getting told this by families continuously, especially now that we are in the school holidays and people are starting to worry that, come September, their children will not get school transport because of some silly rule that the Minister just referenced.

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I acknowledge the points the Deputy raises. The reason behind many of them gives rise to the necessity for a review. I come from a rural constituency and am more than familiar with the issues that have pertained to the school transport system.

I deal with it with my constituents. It has been an ongoing issue for many years and it predates many of us being elected to the House. It is for this reason I was more than keen that the review of the school transport service as we know it would be given every opportunity, notwithstanding Covid and I understand there could have been issues with Covid. I was very keen that we would reconvene and get down to business and tackle many of the issues as the Deputy has outlined them. I am happy to confirm the steering group has now reconvened and its work is ongoing. To confirm, it is my intention the steering group will present its initial or preliminary findings regarding eligibility, which is one of the key issues outlined by the Deputy, in the short term. I expect to have it before the fuller and more comprehensive report is outlined by the close of year.

I appreciate that for parents this is a hugely difficult, trying and complex process. It is my intention we will do all we can to ensure it is a more streamlined service and that students are accommodated. The impetus for the entire review is to ensure the school transport service provides the service it should provide and I look forward to the interim report in the not too distant future.

Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein)
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It would help a lot of people.