Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am far from abdicating my responsibility in this area. On the contrary, I am honouring my responsibility to ensure scarce national resources are used in the most efficient way possible. I remind the Senator that these decisions emanated from a value for money report initiated by a former colleague of his who rightly sought a forensic assessment of the costs associated with school transport. Several of the conclusions emanating from that analysis were put into place in 2011, including the requirement that children should be eligible for transportation to their nearest school only. That is a fair, logical and economically sound principle which is being adhered to equitably on a national basis.