Dáil debates
Tuesday, 27 February 2024
Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate
School Transport
10:55 pm
James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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This is a tricky issue for a number of reasons. The Youghal town urban area has lost a school bus transport service that covered 120 children in the locality. It was a commercially-run service that operated for 54 years, predominantly by one private bus operator in the locality. It ran with great success servicing originally three and then two primary schools, and one post-primary school following the amalgamation of the three secondary schools in Youghal into one, Pobalscoil Na Tríonóide. The bus served Gaelscoil Choráin, Bunscoil Mhuire and Pobalscoil Na Tríonóide.
Youghal town has long had significant social needs. It is a commuter town from where many people commute to places such as Dungarvan, Cork city, Little Island, Carrigtwohill and other major centres of employment. This often requires parents to be on the road early in the morning to get to their places of work. This commercial bus service was vital for working families in particular to get their children to and from their place of education. The topography of Youghal is also an interesting factor in this. It is a very hilly town. It is not necessarily an easy walk to get to the secondary school in particular from the residential communities. The service was of unique benefit locally.
From the perspective of more recent developments in Youghal town we now have one of the largest international protection accommodation services, IPAS, centres in the country. There is also a major inconsistency, unfortunately, whereby children who are resident in the facility are being brought to and from the local schools by bus transportation and local children have lost the commercial bus service to which they had access. One service is subsidised by the State and the other is not because there was a successfully running commercial bus enterprise.
The reason the enterprise stopped, and we have engaged with the bus operator in good faith, is that it did the analysis on how it worked and saw it was just not working out financially any more because of the rising cost of doing business. The operating model was that people were being charged €55 for a place for a child on the bus. This rose to €60 for two children and €65 for three. Unfortunately, when the numbers were analysed, it was not working out. It was quite an expensive service for those using it but it was appreciated because it covered the commuting issue for local children. Three buses were used, with the secondary school run done first and the primary school run afterwards.
My ask is unique. It is about a community that has done an awful lot to help with migration. It is about a community where there is a need for Government intervention in this situation. While I acknowledge that this is a commercial service, I also acknowledge that there is great sensitivity. I would like to see the Government and the Department of Education recognise that this is an exceptional circumstance, whereby Youghal town has already done so much, particularly the local schools, to bring Ukrainian and other families from across the world who have been hosted in the town into the community through integration, with very few issues arising. It is important to reflect on this. I appreciate that the Minister is not here this evening, but I know the Minister of State, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, will be replying. I will be interested to hear what the Government has to say.
Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy O'Connor. I would like to confirm what is the ask specifically.
James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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It is that we have some degree of recognition for the private bus service and, perhaps, funding for it in some fashion through the community benefit fund or the community recognition fund to restore what we have lost, which was school transport for 120 children.
Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I understand. I will pass that information on to the Minister. I just was not clear exactly what the ask was.
Following Government permission to do so, earlier today, the Minister announced a significant review of the school transport scheme, which is important. It is very important with regard to this question specifically for the town. Deputy O'Connor is correct that the contractor was a private contractor and, as such, it was not operated by Bus Éireann as part of the school transport scheme. Bus Éireann has advised that it provides nine school transport services to primary and post-primary schools in the Youghal area.
It is very important to highlight the review of the school transport scheme. This is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education and, as I understand it, the relationship is with Bus Éireann. In the current school year, more than 161,000 children, including more than 135,000 pupils, travel on primary and post-primary services. The cost of the scheme in 2023 was €382 million. There has been an overall increase in applications and tickets issued in the 2023-24 school year compared with the previous year. It is a very important service for families, whether through a commercial service or another service. The service of getting children to and from school is extremely important. Today, the Minister announced a significant review of this.
As the Deputy is aware, and I know Deputies have raised issues regarding the operation of this in the past, a review has been conducted. This has now been completed. The review was conducted with a view to examining the scheme, its broader effectiveness and suitability to ensure it services students and their families adequately.
Today, the Government gave permission to the Minister to publish the School Transport Scheme 2030 report, which marks the largest review of the scheme since it was established. The Government is committed to working to achieve the report’s recommendation of expanding access to the scheme so that an additional 100,000 pupils can be accommodated by 2030.
Throughout the review and as one would expect, the value of the scheme has been apparent. It not only plays an important part in supporting children's access to education, but also aligns with wider Government objectives in sustainability and reducing the number of individual car journeys.
Overall, the recommended changes to the future operation concern the expansion of the current eligibility criteria, addressing current operational challenges where they exist, charges and grants, and moving towards better integration with public transport over time to ensure optimum value for money. A phased implementation of the review’s recommendations will commence in September 2024. This will include a shared effort between the Departments of Education and Transport to pilot and introduce greater integration of the roll-out of transport networks with school transport routes.
I appreciate this only happened today, so this is the first opportunity for the Minister to provide an update, but I suggest to the Deputy that the best opportunity for ensuring the needs of his constituents in Youghal are met is the early review in 2024. As I understand the matter, the relationship with the commercial contractor is not one envisaged by the Department and the school transport scheme as currently laid out.
11:05 pm
James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister of State acknowledged the issue, that of a commercial bus operator. A secondary issue is that, according to information I have been reading today about the current and revised systems, the distance calculation for where the concessionary bus tickets kick in will exclude an urban town like Youghal under the current system as well as the reformed system up to 2030. I raised these issues with the Minister for Education at one of our parliamentary party briefings. We had a system that worked well. From an environmental point of view, it kept a significant number of cars off the road. From a quality of life perspective, it was very beneficial to families who relied on it, be they working households or households without vehicular transport to take their children to the relevant primary or post-primary schools in the morning.
A third issue is the one that worries me the most. There is a feeling locally, one that I just want to acknowledge, that the State is paying for transport for people living in the former Quality Hotel and other locations where IPAS accommodation is being provided when a commercial bus company has withdrawn its service, which is not the fault of the State but does affect 120 children locally. Could a request for the community benefit fund be made by the Department of Education to the Minister, Deputy Humphreys’s Department or could the former examine its own resources and budgets to see whether funding could be found for individual situations? It is important for towns like Youghal that there be an acknowledgment that they have taken on a very heavy burden. They need additional support from the Government where it is deemed appropriate.
Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I might suggest that the Deputy take that up directly with the Minister in the parliamentary party meeting to place priority on it.
James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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That has been done.
Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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It is for the Minister for Education to make such a determination. The review of the school transport scheme has been going on for a long time. It commenced in February 2021 and was conducted over three phases. I am told that work will begin on planning for a reduction in the distance criteria that the Deputy highlighted from 2025 to 2026, so there is still a ways to go. That work is very important, although it will not be of much assistance to the children who need to get to school tomorrow. As to whether the Department of Education can provide additional interim resources, I must refer the Deputy to the Minister. I am afraid it is not part of the information I have been given this evening.
James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State.