Pat Moylan (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy de Valera, to the House and compliment her on the work she has done in her Department. The Minister of State is responsible for school and she has made a major impact on that area over the past few years.

The Minister of State has told us that approximately 135,000 children use school transport with an additional 9,000 having a ticket to obtain transport by other means. She said also that 33% of those children availing of school transport have special needs and approximately 600 people are employed to escort those children. That is an important service. Those figures speak for themselves. It is a success.

Regarding catchment areas and school transport, bus routes should not be set in stone but there is reluctance to change routes in rural areas. Many children must go to a crossroads or junction to catch a school bus which then travels a road on which there are few houses. Many of those children may live on a nearby road and it would not add much mileage to put the bus on that road. From time to time parents approach us about changing routes, but for whatever reason, we do not seem to do so. We should consider the route which would allow the maximum number of children to be collected, even if it means a slightly longer journey.

I welcome the Minister of State's comments on safety and the steps she has taken on flashing lights on buses and introducing safety belts on all buses by the end of 2006. Whether a school is based in a rural area or a town, parents also have a responsibility. Many parents deliver children to school by car but they do not park their cars, they abandon them. School buses try to get in and out to collect and drop off children. This dangerous practice is not the fault of the bus drivers, it is simply that of irresponsible parents. The Department and the Garda Síochána should take action. Parking or abandoning cars should not be allowed within a defined area around a school.

The students themselves also have responsibility. In a recent case, a young person fell from a school bus through an emergency exit. Those buses are required to have emergency exits in the event of a crash. They do not spring open. Someone must interfere with the mechanism to open them. Parents have a major responsibility to outline to their children that they must sit down and stay in their seats on the school bus.

Recently, we had a sad occasion when a crash involving a school bus occurred in my county. We were extremely lucky that it led to only one fatality, although, unfortunately, one fatality is one too many. I am delighted the Minister of State mentioned that flashing lights can be used when children disembark from buses in rural areas, as fatalities have occurred. It is hoped the situation will improve.

A good State testing system is in place. People going for tests with buses or trucks have told me in the past that they had to get cracked glass on tail-lights or headlights replaced. We must do more spot-checking on bus drivers and ensure they are licensed and properly qualified. In the event of something happening to a bus, temporary replacements are used. That is not on. It would be better to leave the children at home than take a chance by using an inferior bus to transport them.

I thank the Minister of State for her work on school transport. It has been a major success for many years and many people are in extremely good employment because the Minister of State and the school transport system afforded them the opportunity to attend school. They may not have had that opportunity if the school transport system was not in place.