John Whelan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I propose to share time with Senator John Kelly. I appreciate the courtesy of Senator Jim D'Arcy, who allowed me to speak first as I have to attend another meeting at 5 p.m. I welcome the Minister of State again after a previous discussion on this matter on the Adjournment, responding to Senator Pat O'Neill and me in July.

I welcome the thoroughness of the policy as set out by the Minister of State. Senator Ned O'Sullivan made a constructive and fair-minded assessment. No one wants to tear up the rule book or put policy in the bin. It is well intended and has been introduced to good purpose. We must have planning and cost control and I do not seek favouritism or ducking and diving around the rules. This is primarily an issue that affects rural Ireland. If people cannot get the school bus, there may be no alternative. There is no 46A bus going down boreens. An increasing number of families are finding it difficult to keep a car on the road, never mind two cars. The husband or wife may have to head off to work in the car and there may be no option to get the child to school. The buses are going by the door and the brother and sister can get the bus but another child may have to get a lift ten miles in the opposite direction. There may be no alternative school bus route or service. There is no saving to the taxpayer or the Department. If the purpose is planning, cost saving and value for money, proximity to the school cannot be the only metric underpinning the policy. Other factors must be taken into account. It would be foolhardy to have a single measure of eligibility. It is an absurdity that two children from the same household can get on a bus with empty seats while another child must be driven to school in the opposite direction. That is the first problem that needs to be addressed in the review.

The Government will ask schools to consider amalgamation and rationalisation in the interest of the best use of resources. Heywood community school is the amalgamation of four secondary schools. They merged in good faith and the parents, encouraged by the Department, bought into the project. Now they are being told it is no longer the nearest school. Children from the Swan national school, Newtown national school, Wolfhill and Raheen are being told to go to Castlecomer and Portlaoise, which are ten miles and eight miles, respectively, in the opposite direction. There is no school bus to these locations. It is not the intention of the Department to undermine the enrolment policy of a perfectly good, popular and well run viable school, but persisting with this policy will strip out 30 to 50 children annually. One does not need to be a rocket scientist to do the maths on that point. Within a number of years, the viability of the school and the enrolment process from primary schools will be undermined. How can the principal and board of management go to primary schools in the catchment area of Heywood community school in November for the traditional information and enrolment evenings without being able to assure the parents that eligible children will have access to the school bus? The concessionary ticket is not the answer because it leads to travelling on a wing and a prayer. If there is a seat, the child might get one. I ask the Minister of State to exercise his political prerogative to examine and review the policy and its operation on the ground. While it might be working for the majority of people, it is affecting hundreds, if not thousands, of families nationwide. It puts undue distress and hardship on rural families.