Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Bogfaidh muid ar aghaidh go Saincheist Tráthúil Uimh. 3 to the Minister for Education and Youth, Deputy McEntee, to discuss the review of the school transport scheme ahead of the new school year, atá in ainm an Teachta Mattie McGrath.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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Ar an gcéad dul síos, I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach for giving me this opportunity this evening. I thank the Minister of State for being here. Every August, my office is inundated with school transport queries from parents who have not been able to secure a bus place for their child. I am sure the same applies in the Minister of State’s office. It is the same for all representatives. This causes unnecessary stress late in the day before schools return. Children cannot get a bus ticket. Some might live too close to their nearest school, some live too far away from their school of choice and some are minimally further in distance between their nearest school and their second nearest school. These issues crop up for families coming from rural areas to local secondary schools in the towns. This is a particular issue in south Tipperary with schools in Cahir, Killenaule, Fethard, Cluain Meala, Mitchelstown in Cork and Carrick-on-Suir. For example, one family was unable to receive a bus ticket because Bus Éireann deemed that they live too close to a school in Cahir, despite the fact they live on a rural road a few kilometres away from the school with no footpath or public lighting. Their neighbour a little farther up the road was able to avail of the ticket. These rules are unworkable and unfair. I am sure the Minister of State understands that himself.

Another common issue relates to two schools being very close to each other. I will give the example of my own village of Caisleán Nua, Newcastle, versus Cahir and Clonmel. Incidentally, back in the 1970s, when that school was managed by the vocational education committee it was closed down. The people of Newcastle received a commitment at the time that children would be able to attend a school in either Cahir or Clonmel. That commitment was given and accepted in good faith. While it operated for many decades, for some reason, it is now not operating. That school in Newcastle is approximately ten miles from Cahir and nine miles from Clonmel. The difference in distance from the village to the two towns is minimal. There is always a mix of students heading to secondary school in both towns because there are good schools in Clonmel and an excellent school and community college in Cahir, namely, Coláiste Dún Iascaigh. The current scheme dictates which school students can get a bus to, however.

While the school transport scheme is an invaluable resource to families, it badly needs to be amended. The Department of education undertook a much-needed review of primary and post-primary school transport schemes in 2023. Recommendations from that review were made in 2024 to change the eligibility and distance criteria. Can the Minister of State confirm if his Department, along with Bus Éireann, have, or intend to, implement those changes and recommendations, which would greatly reduce the issues for the coming school year?

It was vital that the scheme was examined. While it took a long time for it to be examined, the review has been carried out and recommendations have been made. The recommendations must be introduced immediately. There is no point waiting until late July or early August to do so. There is a problem with timing as well. The timelines for getting tickets are so late in the day that people have to scramble for one against time. Parents and guardians are worried and it causes awful trouble for children. Some are being bullied because they cannot get on a bus. Other children ask them why they cannot get a ticket or why they cannot pay for one and the usual things that can happen among teenagers.

School transport is a great scheme, which was introduced by former Minister, Donogh O’Malley. I availed of it myself when it came out in 1969 or around that time. While it has worked well, like everything else, it needs to be tweaked now ahead of the new school term. People will be going on holidays, laethanta saoire, from now until August.

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Mattie McGrath for raising this issue and giving me the opportunity to outline to the House the issues regarding how Bus Éireann manages the school transport system on behalf of the Department of Education and Youth. As the Deputy may be aware, the school transport 2030 report was published in early 2024, following a comprehensive analysis and review of the scheme as it currently operates. The recommended changes to the future operation of the scheme include expansion of the current eligibility criteria, addressing current operational challenges and moving towards greater integration with public transport to ensure the best value for money for the Exchequer. It is proposed to expand access to the scheme in order that an additional 100,000 pupils can be carried by 2030. A phased implementation of the review’s recommendations began at the start of the 2024-25 school year.

Following the publication of the review, the Department will test the feasibility of a number of approaches through a series of pilot programmes. These pilot programmes will be held in conjunction with the Department and Bus Éireann. A total of 14 pilot projects are under way in the current school year and are currently being evaluated. It is intended to continue current pilots for the upcoming school year. They will be monitored, and a further evaluation will take place at the end of the 2025-26 school year. The findings from these evaluations will guide the planning and implementation needed for a national roll-out of a revised school transport system.

Work is under way to identify where further pilot programmes can be conducted. A number of approaches are being examined, including the use of a geographic information system, GIS, to identify how many additional children would become eligible and where they are located. A digital mapping project of all existing school bus routes has been developed. There is ongoing collaboration with the Department of Transport, Bus Éireann and the National Transport Authority with regard to the planned expansion of public transport routes to explore where integration may be possible. This is not always possible in specific rural areas, as the Deputy noted.

It occurred to me a moment ago that I travelled to both primary and secondary school using the school transport system. The service provided he length and breadth of the country is second to none. I remember with great fondness those who drove the buses, the contractors and Bus Éireann , which made it all possible.

Implementation of the recommendations of the review will continue to be planned, subject to resources being available to meet the increased demand. Under the current terms of the school transport system, children are eligible for transport at primary level where they reside not less than 3.2 km from their nearest national school, which they must be attending. At post-primary level, a pupil must reside not less than 4.8 km from their nearest post-primary school or education centre, which they must be attending, as determined by the Department or Bus Éireann, having regard to ethos and language.

Officials from Bus Éireann and the Department of education came into the audiovisual room two weeks ago to meet Members of the Oireachtas. It was the first time they issued an open invitation to all Members of the Oireachtas, both TDs and Senators, in order that they could hear about the challenges being faced at the school gate from Members. I always say that, in our own office, school bus tickets become an issue from 15 August and continue to arise right through until the first or second week of October. There are huge challenges in this regard. The school transport system is so important because families are relying on it now, just as they did when free education was introduced. Transport was not as widely available at that time, however. With many families having two parents working now, it is hugely important.

I assure the Deputy that I will continue to monitor this with our officials in the Department and Bus Éireann to make sure we can make changes and make it as accessible as possible.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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The Minister of State was lucky to get it in both schools. I did not get it in national school, but I cycled to Mount Melleray that year to do the entrance exam. They did not take in any students that year. They had the place closed. I went on the bus to St. Joseph's in Cahir. I too thank the bus drivers, many of whom have gone to their heavenly reward. I also thank the contractors who give an excellent service to this day. The tweaking is there to do with the over-70s. I have seen people here and I have been up on my feet ten times in the past ten years to try to get this over-70s disqualification changed. If a driver is fit and able and medically certified he should be able to bring the children to school. He is allowed come to school at 10 o'clock to bring them off to a match or anything else. It is nonsensical. The RSA has too much say on this. The Minister should trial a statutory instrument to clear this because the contractors cannot get drivers and it is age discrimination against the elderly. Early decisions are vital, as the Minister of State said, from 15 August until October though the children should be out in early June. Safe pick-up locations are important. For example, the Clogheen to Mitchelstown school bus does not come as far as the village of Clogheen - some call it a town - forcing parents to drive to Carrigmore cross halfway between Clogheen and Ballyporeen, a junction on a busy rural road, for pick-up. This is surely not best practice for road safety, particularly in the dark winter mornings and evenings. In the interests of safety some parents send their kids to route 245 Clonmel to Cork public bus stops. It is at the village at a similar time every morning to the public bus. This is only one example, but there are many. The free school bus tickets were introduced recently as a cost-of-living measure due to the downturn in the economy. They were hugely appreciated but they had many knock-on effects that were not anticipated with more people using the buses. It needs to be tweaked. I know the Minister of State is doing his best. He understands it himself and was a recipient of it in the early stages when it came out. I would appreciate if the move could be made. I know the pilot schemes are welcome, but we need more than pilot schemes.

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy mentioned a couple of things. The closing date for payment or for medical card issues is 6 June, which is next Friday. Bus Éireann and the Department officials have assured me they will be working extremely hard for the three weeks after that to get the information together, to correlate it and to understand where the needs are and where the challenges are going to be met. A lot of work is going on and I pay tribute to the officials in the Department and Bus Éireann for their engagement with me over the past number of months since my appointment and I look forward to working with them on it. They have assured me they will be working on this, and we will be having weekly meetings to review it constantly to make sure we have the information for families as soon as possible. It is crucially important we do that.

The Deputy mentioned the over-70s and this issue has come up time out of number in many discussions on school bus systems and the challenges in it. The programme for Government has given a commitment that will be reviewed, and I would like to allow the review take place, so we have the best information possible, and we have data, opinion and a proper review. We will then make a decision on how to move forward. I take that point because it was raised a number of times at the briefing in the audiovisual room. I will continue to work on it. In school transport we have to pay tribute to Bus Éireann and the contractors. The contractors are a vitally integral part of it, as are the school bus drivers because they become part of the extended family. I pay tribute to all bus drivers the length and breadth of the country for the work they do throughout the year and in the more challenging winter months. I assure the Deputy and the House that we will be working extremely hard over the next months to make sure we have the best information for families in as timely a fashion as possible.