Kathryn Reilly (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. My topic relates to school transport and the situation facing one particular family in County Cavan. The family had applied online for school transport and were told they were eligible for it. They got their school tickets and the children were initially picked up by a bus. However, they then received notification that although they were eligible for school transport no school transport service was currently available to take them to school. They were then told that they would be able to receive the remote area grant towards the cost of private school transport arrangements.

The reason I raise this matter is to try to find a way around this problem, particularly in view of the fact that the contractor who had initially picked up the children does not see a problem in diverting the route to pick them up. Given that the family were eligible for school transport when a bus service was available, is there some flexibility over this matter? It is an issue that has come up in a number of rural areas.

Parents are calling for the route to be changed to allow some type of pick-up to take place. They say the pick-up options that were given to them were not feasible but the rerouting of the bus could be a positive thing. It is very hard to contemplate how the rules can dictate that a bus travel down one road when the need for the service is along another. This is particularly relevant when one considers that the contractor does not believe there is a material difference in changing the route to collect these children. It seems that the only barrier is an administrative one. Minor changes should be able to be made to the system at local level and a flexible approach and a bit of common sense will go a long way in meeting the needs of children - not just these children but others in other areas. A detour is all that is required and it would benefit this family in gaining access to education for the children. I ask that the Minister request the school transport office to look again at the bus service in question and see how these children may be accommodated. Considering the financial pressure parents are under when it comes to funding children's education, whether in the form of contributions, the cost of uniforms or other such costs, it is not a big ask to review the scheme for these children.

The second part of this commencement matter relates to the remote area grant. As no service is available the family have been told they may be able to receive a remote area grant towards the cost of private transport arrangements. How will this be administered? Will they get it towards the end of the year? In many families one car is used for work so they would have to get a taxi to get the children to school and having to meet the costs of these upfront would be very difficult. If the family gets the remote area grant to get their children to school can it be provided as soon as possible so that there are no barriers to getting the children to school?Is there any possibility of introducing flexibility into the route to facilitate this family? Can the school transport office show flexibility in this regard given that the contractor does not see a material difference and would have no problem collecting those children, as was done when the tickets were initially sent out?