Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I raise an issue regarding calls for protocols to be put in place for students repeating their leaving certificate to have access to the school bus system. It is a huge issue in my part of the world. At the moment, we have up to 1,800 or 2,000 students repeating the leaving certificate every year. A majority of these students have access to school transport but because they are outside the timelines for applying, they are not eligible to get a seat and are then outside the criteria. They could have used a bus for five or six years. However, because they are repeating the leaving certificate, they do not qualify for a bus because they did not apply in time. The application date for a seat is 5 May. Students do not get their leaving certificate results until 16 August so, realistically, the only way I can see around the issue, if a protocol is not put in place, is that students who do their leaving certificate should apply for their seats for the next year just in case they repeat their leaving certificate. That is an illogical way of dealing with the issue.

This is a practical problem. We have people who are trying to improve their results, work hard and do what they can but they are denied seats on buses because they are outside the timelines despite the fact they had a bus seat for six years. This is not a budgetary issue but is in many ways a protocol issue to ensure that this cohort of students, who are doing their utmost to ensure that they improve their grades and where they go in life, can have ease of access to the nearest place of education. We need a special protocol for leaving certificate students who repeat the leaving certificate. Over 1,800 are repeating the leaving certificate this year. The majority of them were on the school bus system for five to six years and they need to have access to that. At the moment, if there is no seat available, they have no access and the line they get from the Department is that they did not apply on time. It is illogical to have leaving certificate students applying for a bus for next year just in case they do not get certain results.

We need to have flexibility in the Department. I can describe many instances where people who have been on the bus for six years repeat their leaving certificate but because they did not apply on time, they have no bus for the year in which they are repeating the leaving certificate. It is a huge issue. I hope I can get a suitable protocol put in place in the near future because these students deserve school transport and access to education. It is a very practical issue.