Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)

I thank Senator Bradford for raising the matter today as it provides me with an opportunity to clarify the general position regarding the changes in the primary school transport scheme announced in budget 2011 by the previous Fianna Fáil-Green Party Government. These changes derive from recommendations in the value for money review of the school transport scheme and include the introduction of charges, changes to the closed school rule and changes to the minimum numbers required to establish or maintain a service. In particular, I wish to outline more fully the changes to the minimum numbers required to establish or maintain a service as it is this change which has affected the bus service to Adair national school.

The change in the minimum numbers required to establish or maintain a service, requires that, from the 2011-12 school year, a minimum of ten eligible pupils, residing in a distinct locality, will be required to retain or establish a school transport service. This brings the minimum numbers required to establish services back to 2002 levels. It is interesting to note that when the change was made in 2002 to establish a minimum number of seven rather than the previously agreed minimum number of ten, the cost of providing school transport went up by €20 million the following year.

On a distinct locality, the guidelines of this scheme clearly outline that a service to convey a group of children whose homes are at scattered points in a school district would not be approved. On the advice of Bus Éireann, which operates the scheme on behalf of the Department, the number of eligible applicants from a distinct locality in this instance is below the required number of ten. While applications have been submitted on behalf of ten children, five of these children reside west, one resides south, one resides south-east, two reside east and one resides north of the school at scattered points.

Commenting on the Senator's earlier observations that, by its nature, a rural school transport involves the collecting of children at scattered points throughout a rural community, that is very much the case, but I am sure the Senator, coming from a rural community as he does, would be aware that, even within a dispersed rural community, normally with school transport services an individual bus would pick up children who reside in a particular locality, usually at a similar distance and at a similar compass point from the school. The analysis carried out by Bus Éireann would seem to suggest that this is not the case with these ten children.

I emphasise that the school transport scheme continues to have regard for language and ethos. In this instance, the families for whom this is the nearest school under Protestant management and who reside more than 3.2 km from the school will be eligible for a grant towards the cost of making private transport arrangements. This grant ranges from some €200 per school year to over €900 per school year depending on the distance involved.

This minimum number requirement is being applied nationally and in all, some 100 primary routes, out of a total of 6,000 routes which operated in the last school year, will not operate this year because there are insufficient eligible children qualifying for transport in order to warrant a service.

I remind the Senator that these changes are taking place against the backdrop of the severe financial difficulties that the country is in. Under the four-year national recovery plan, there is a requirement to deliver savings of €17 million on the school transport budget and the measures announced in budget 2011 are an integral part of this.

I again thank the Senator for raising this matter.