Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)

I am delighted for the opportunity to explain to the Seanad this evening the changes that will take place in the provision of school transport in September next and in September 2012.

It is no harm to set in context how exactly we have arrived at a position where we need to impose these changes. Ireland is in a difficult place. In an ideal country, all of us would dearly love to have school buses calling to the front door of the house of every child who requires school transport and dropping him or her at the front gate of his or her school. However, we do not live in an ideal country. We live in a country that has lost control of its chequebook. In fiscal terms, we are now policy takers rather than policy makers and as all Senators will be aware, every fortnight the Governor of the Central Bank must report to Frankfurt to state that our fortnightly returns, in terms of Revenue and cost reductions, are meeting their targets. We are borrowing €350 million per week merely to keep the public services functioning and if we do not meet those fortnightly targets, then we will not have any reason to transport our children to school because there will not be any schools for them to attend.

Michael Collins, the first Minister for Finance of the State, had more room to manoeuvre than his successor, Deputy Noonan, has today. How we arrived at this sad and vulnerable place is not up for discussion this evening, but I intend to play my part in getting us out of this place and in fully restoring our independence. When my son and the Senators' sons and daughters leave school in a few years' time, I want all of them to be able to hold their heads high and to feel part of a proud nation that has regained control over its national spending and is ready to build a bright future purely on its own terms. Our children need to be masters of their own destiny and we need to bestow upon them the freedom and independence to succeed in whatever field they choose without having to look over their shoulders to paymasters in Frankfurt and Washington. For that to happen, all of us here need steely determination to rein in our spending and to balance our books.

School transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on my Department's behalf. In the region of 123,000 children, including more than 8,000 children with special needs, are transported in approximately 4,000 vehicles on a daily basis to schools throughout the country, covering more than 82 million kilometres annually. I am very aware that this scheme has been the subject of much comment and debate recently in various parts of the country. I attended a meeting in a hotel in Listowel last night at the invitation of the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Deenihan, where I spoke to and engaged with approximately 400 parents.

These changes derive from a value-for-money review of the school transport scheme which was finalised in 2010 and from decisions of the previous Fianna Fáil-Green Party Government to implement recommendations in that report. Before I outline the changes in more detail for the benefit of Members, I stress again today that they are being implemented at a time of serious and long-term economic challenges. In the short period since we assumed office it has been - it will continue to be - necessary for this Government to make tough and unpopular decisions. We have little or no scope, or no intention, of reversing earlier Government decision. Against this background, under the four year recovery plan, this year's school transport budget of €180 million assumes savings of some €4 million in 2011. This savings figure will then rise by a further €14 million up to 2014. These are minimum required levels of savings and, like every other area of expenditure, are liable to revision.

In the 1997 to 2011 period, the budget for school transport increased from some €50 million per annum to nearly €180 million per annum or an increase of 260%. Bear in mind, as that increase incurred, we ended up in that period from 1997 to 2011 carrying approximately 30,000 fewer pupils in the system. This massive increase in the school transport budget, while heavily influenced by factors such as safety and the transport for children with special educational needs, is significantly greater than the inflation rate or the rate of increase in the overall education budget during that period.

It now costs €1 million per school-going day to transport our children to school. Given our present circumstances, and the fact that this is a significant expenditure area, it is not possible to exclude such an area from serious evaluation and from the impact of essential cutbacks in expenditure. The aggregation of the primary and post-primary transport measures being implemented arising from the value for money review will be an important element in achieving these savings.

On a positive note, the changes to the operation of the scheme also aim to ensure a more simplified, modernised and streamlined application and administration system managed by Bus Éireann. I accept that, because of the rural nature of the school transport scheme, which this year is providing transport for 123,000 children or 15% of the overall primary and post-primary school-going population, the impact of the changes will obviously be significantly more visible in some rural communities.

I will outline briefly the five key budgetary changes being implemented. First, the ceasing of the closed school rule and the central school rule is happening in two phases, namely in 2011, the uniform application of the distance eligibility requirement of 3.2 kilometres and in 2012, the cessation of eligibility for school transport based on the closed school rule for all new children entering primary school. Second, the minimum number of eligible children needed to establish or retain services increases from seven to 10, which change generally represents a reversion to 2002 levels. In 2001, a decision was taken by the then Minister to reduce that number from 10 to seven and a year later, our bus transport costs had risen by €23 million. Third, there will be changes to charges, including the introduction of charges for eligible primary pupils. Fourth, we are ceasing the catchment boundary system at post-primary level. Administrative arrangements with Bus Éireann for the operation of the scheme are being updated.

For those Senators - approximately 115 days ago, I was that person - who was not familiar with the closed school rule, I will briefly give a short outline of it. The closed school and central school rule for school transport eligibility purposes was introduced in the 1960s in circumstances where a primary school was closed and amalgamated with another. Under the closed school rule, where a primary school is closed and amalgamated with another, pupils residing in the closed school area are eligible for transport to the school of amalgamation even though they may be residing less than 3.2 kilometres from that school. The central school rule resulted from the amalgamation of a greater number of schools. In these instances transport is provided for children residing not less than 1 mile from the new central school.

No time limit was ever applied to the closed school-central school rule. In some cases the primary school in question was closed up to 40 years ago and amalgamated with another school. In some instances a newer school has subsequently been built in the general area of the original closed school.

There are quite a number of parents - my Department tells me this has been the subject of many representation in recent years - whose children are attending a central or amalgamated school who have a school closer to them but yet cannot gain access to that school because the transport system and the special arrangements in place for amalgamated schools dictate that the bus runs to this amalgamated school only. In fact, in 2005, the Ombudsman for Children, Ms Emily Logan, commented on this.

She asked that serious consideration be given to putting a time limit on this amalgamated school rule. I wish to quote from her letter. She stated:

I understand from discussions with the Department that a time limit of eight years is proposed. However, the Ombudsman considers that this time limit may be unduly excessive. Under the circumstances, the Department is requested to provide a substantive reason as to why a time limit of eight years is proposed or alternatively to consider reducing the proposed time limit. The Department is also requested to amend this provision of the scheme without further delay.

She also included the following comment in her letter. She considers that "to allow the concession for an extended period may lead to decisions concerning the provision of transport to be based on irrelevant grounds and which would be contrary to the intention of the scheme". These are the circumstances surrounding the amalgamated closed school rule process. The closed school rule operates to deny rather than grant school transport eligibility to children travelling to the nearest school and those who meet the requisite distance criterion.

As part of forward planning policy to meet pupil places each year, the Department of Education and Skills assesses school accommodation needs in each area based on local demographic trends, current and projected enrolments, recent and planned housing developments and the capacity of existing schools to meet demand for places. Therefore, rather than help the situation, often the closed school rule can operate to distort parental decisions and result in pupils travelling longer distances than necessary were they to go to the nearest school.

The first element of the change to the closed school rule, which will be implemented from September this year, involves the application of the distance eligibility criterion to all children travelling under the primary school transport scheme. This includes not only those children travelling under the closed school rule but also a number of Traveller pupils on exceptional transport arrangements up to this year. This change to school transport provision means that the distance eligibility criterion of 3.2 km or 2 miles will be applied uniformly and equitably on a national basis. The practical impact is that children categorised for transport under the closed school rule who reside less than 3.2 km from their school and who are availing of free transport to that school lose their transport eligibility. Currently, there are exactly 16,000 families attending amalgamated schools in the country. The change whereby they will lose that transport eligibility inside the 2 mile radius will affect approximately 2,400 families. Bus Éireann has notified us in recent days that 1,300 of those 2,400 families have applied for school transport and are aware that their transport eligibility under the rule has now ceased. Bearing in mind the charge of €200, it remains to be seen whether they will go on to buy a ticket for that service. In such cases, these children may apply for concessionary transport where there are spare seats available on services for which, as I mentioned earlier, a fee of €200 applies. A family maximum of €650 per annum applies in these circumstances.

The second element of the change is scheduled to take effect fully in September 2012 and will apply only in the case of children commencing their primary education from that date. The change means that school transport eligibility for junior infant children entering in September 2012 will be restricted to those children who meet the distance eligibility criterion and who are travelling to their nearest school. However, to assist parents, in cases where a junior infant child is starting school this September coming and the parents choose to send that child to the nearest school rather than the amalgamated school, we are now allowing eligibility to happen provided they meet the requisite distance criteria.

Existing primary pupils availing of transport under the closed school rule will retain transport eligibility for the duration of their schooling. In other words, if one is already attending an amalgamated school one will retain the right to do so all the way to the end of one's primary schooling, provided the requisite distance is met. A sample survey undertaken as part of the value for money review on transport arrangements for pupils availing of transport under the closed school rule showed that the majority of pupils are already attending their nearest open school. If one is living in an amalgamated school area, the value for money review concludes that 95% of children attending those schools will in fact attend their nearest school once the new distance criteria are applied. The figure was arrived at by carrying out a sample survey of schools throughout the country on a random basis.

The September 2012 change is momentous and will not be taken lightly, but it must be taken with the most accurate of information to hand. To have this accurate information to hand, I have requested Bus Éireann to carry out a detailed analysis of the on the ground impact of this for each individual school and the rural community it serves. This analysis will be based on the most up-to-date information available on current school transport usage patterns, and I expect to have this information available to me in the coming weeks. The Department and I will then have ample time to consider this analysis and act on it, if necessary, in advance of September 2012.

The long-term practical consequences of these changes are as follows: a simplified primary school transport scheme and one in which the principle of using the distance criteria as the key eligibility criterion, having regard to language and ethos, will be applied equitably and fairly throughout the nation; transitional arrangements for a maximum period of up to seven years will be provided to cater for the eligible primary cohort attending the amalgamated school to allow them complete their schooling at the school; in the case of primary school amalgamations in the future, eligibility will be based on the distance criteria applying at that time and attendance at the nearest school; and from 2011, junior infant children residing in a closed school area, for whom the amalgamated school is not their nearest but who enrol in their nearest school, will be eligible for school transport provided the requisite distance of 3.2 km is met.

To put this issue fully into context and drawing on the report of the value for money review, the following facts are relevant. In the 2009-2010 school year, transport services under the closed school rule operated to more than 800 primary schools with almost 26,000 children, or 55% of the mainstream tickets issued, deemed eligible for school transport under this rule. I referred to the sample survey earlier. The transport of such a significant number of children, some of whom would not qualify for transport on the basis of the distance criterion alone, involves a significant cost. We are also changing the minimum numbers required to establish or maintain a service. This change means that services under the minimum numbers of ten eligible children, either single services or part of double tripping arrangements, will be discontinued. A pick-up density of pupils in a distinct locality on a particular route increasing from the current minimum of seven to ten eligible children will be required to establish or retain a service. Thus, all services transporting less than the minimum number of eligible children, either single or double services, will be discontinued with effect from the 2011-2012 school year. In general, this means that the minimum number required to establish or retain a service goes back broadly to 2002 levels.

Bus Éireann has undertaken a detailed examination of all such services to establish the routes in question, and some 150 schools are being notified of the changes. When the first analysis was carried out of the impact of this provision increasing from seven to ten, more than 500 routes were identified for possible closure. However, further analysis and assessment of the savings to be made on those routes concluded that of the 500 routes, only 150 closures would generate genuine savings. Thus, the figure of 500 was reduced to 150.

Parents and guardians of pupils affected will also be notified of changes when it is certain their service is being withdrawn. They will be informed that eligible pupils are eligible to apply for the remote area grant. This is paid directly by the Department on submission of a certificate of school attendance. The amount payable is based on a maximum grant of €5.10 per day per family in respect of a distance travelled of 9.7 km or more. This equates to €933 per school year based on full attendance.

An annual charge for eligible primary pupils is being introduced from the commencement of the coming 2011-2012 school year. This charge is set at €50 per eligible pupil with a maximum family charge of €110 for eligible primary pupils. The charge of €50 represents some 5% recoupment of the actual cost of €1,020. Pupils with valid medical cards will be exempt from this charge in primary and post-primary schools. The charge is being introduced to ensure school transport services are fully utilised in an efficient and cost effective manner. In the past, it was the practice that school principals would prepare a list for Bus Éireann of the pupils to attend the school in each coming September. Bus Éireann would receive that list, plan the routes associated with the list of children and families only to find they were providing seats on buses that were not availed of by families.

In the past no assessment was done as to whether each family wished to avail of school transport. The seats were simply provided and no further analysis was done. This charge will discourage that type of wasteful action and will ensure all school bus seats provided are availed of by families who need them. Pupils with valid medical cards will be exempt from the charge.

From the 2012-13 school year, the use of the catchment boundary system for determining transport eligibility at post-primary level will cease. School transport eligibility for all new children entering post-primary education will be determined according to attendance at and the distance they reside from their nearest post-primary centre or school. Existing pupils already in the system will retain transport eligibility for the duration of their schooling. A sample survey undertaken as part of the value for money review on arrangements for pupils availing of post-primary transport showed that the majority attend their nearest open school. Therefore, most pupils will not be impacted by this change.

Updated arrangements will be put in place with Bus Éireann on a phased basis for the operation of the scheme. These will include arrangements for an increasing proportion of routes to be provided by private operators. At present, Bus Éireann transports one third of the 123,000 children availing of school transport services using large buses. The balance of services is provided by private operators, which account for 85%, or some 3,400 vehicles, used in the scheme. These are predominantly smaller vehicles such as medium and mini buses and taxis. Some 20% of these routes will be re-tendered each year to secure the most competitive prices. That is a rolling tendering process.

In addition, from the 2012-13 school year, Bus Éireann will assume responsibility for the operation of the school transport system, including the processing of transport grant applications, a function currently carried out by my Department's school transport section. This will fully centralise the school transport application process. Where transport services are not provided, the remote area transport grant or special transport grant will be payable by Bus Éireann to eligible families. With the introduction of the new application process at primary level and the evolving online payment facility, my aim for the general school transport system, outside of transport requirements for children with special educational needs, is to have it operated to the greatest degree possible in a streamlined and modern way.

These various material changes to school transport provision derive from the value for money review and are taking place in a most challenging financial context against the background of a requirement to secure savings in the operation of the scheme while also enhancing its efficiency. I look forward to hearing the views of Members on the school transport scheme.