Results 20,321-20,340 of 32,978 for speaker:Catherine Connolly
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Catherine Connolly: As such, the 13% management charge has been kept. It is still in existence. The surplus is gone.
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Catherine Connolly: This is an area that has been the subject of many reviews. I read one review from 2016 that refers to 11 reports since 1977. We have more reports. It has been subject to significant analysis. I wish to raise the Department's supervision and the lack of a service level agreement. The opening statement said that there is a service level agreement and it is now under review. When did that...
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Catherine Connolly: Why did that not come in sooner? An essential service covering so many pupils had no service level agreement. My time is limited, but I note that the Comptroller and Auditor General has itemised the lack of oversight in his report. He specifies what should be there. Why did that not happen sooner?
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Catherine Connolly: There were no minutes. Has that been rectified?
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Catherine Connolly: Has all of that been rectified?
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Catherine Connolly: Are there quarterly or monthly meetings?
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Catherine Connolly: I wish to discuss the spare capacity. I have read the reports and I understand the balance. It is difficult. Is it correct that the number of eligible students has reduced significantly from 2007? Overall we are catering for 117,000 pupils per year. What percentage of that is made up of eligible students?
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Catherine Connolly: Some 28,000 are concessionary and the rest are eligible. The concessionary students pay a fee depending on whether it is primary or secondary. The Department has spare capacity. Apparently that has increased significantly, according to the Comptroller and Auditor General. Perhaps I am wrong and that has changed since his report.
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Catherine Connolly: I understand that. The number of eligible students has declined. The proportion of concessionary students has increased. Is that correct?
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Catherine Connolly: However, the spare capacity on the buses has also increased. Is that correct?
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Catherine Connolly: I refer to the residual capacity.
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Catherine Connolly: I refer to the residual capacity for each of the past two years.
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Catherine Connolly: Is that not significant?
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Catherine Connolly: I saw that.
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Catherine Connolly: The 2016 report recommended a reduction in fleet because of the residual capacity. I refer to the review of the concessionary charges. Is that correct?
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Catherine Connolly: That has not happened. I am thinking of climate change and the necessity of buses on roads and the reduction of car usage. I have not seen that mentioned anywhere in any of the documents. Climate change has to be one of the criteria taken into account in any value for money analysis .
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Catherine Connolly: I understand that and the nuances involved. There has to be some new and imaginative way of looking at this and I understand the Department is open to that. On climate change, we want more people to travel by bus. That is essential. On the other hand, there are practicalities involved. I refer to the situation in Galway, about which I want to make a general point. Children go to...
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Catherine Connolly: We are beyond aspiring to it. We have major changes to make in the context of climate change. We are talking here about one child but the circumstances involved are reflective of those of quite a number of people. The person who wrote that letter stated that there are over 20 students involved. Are we going to obliged 20 people to drive their children home in cars or jeeps simply because...
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Catherine Connolly: I understand the operational difficulties involved. As a society, we have no choice but to face these practical problems in the context of climate change. It makes no sense for 20 families to put jeeps and cars on the road so that their children can go to after-school activities, when a half-empty bus-----
- Public Accounts Committee: Comptroller and Auditor General Special Report 98: Provision of School Transport (13 Dec 2018)
Catherine Connolly: No, they cannot. In this particular case, the school bus has gone.