Sharon Keogan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for her very comprehensive report on school transport. The free school transport initiative was announced with great bells and whistles. We expected great things. Whenever anything is announced as a free service, I suppose the Minister has got to prepare for that and what it brings. I am wondering what action the Minister took. Did she acquire more buses for it? Did she acquire more drivers? The Minister knew that more people would be applying for the service, particularly in rural areas. It seems to have been a severe let-down. Were more staff appointed to the school transport section in Bus Éireann here in Dublin? They do not seem to be able to answer the phone. They are not returning any emails at this time. Inquiries are coming in from all over the country.

This is not just a Meath issue, all over the country councillors are having issues with transportation. The population increase with 52,000 more Ukrainians has obviously caused more problems for school transport provision as well. Were any provisions made for that? It just does not seem to have worked this year. I do not know why but this year seems to have been worse than any other year that I have ever dealt with. I know of a number of children who did get a bus pass, then it was taken off them. There are seats on the bus but they cannot get on the bus as a result. I know children who got tickets and they never even applied for them. They would have applied in the first two years of their education, did not get it and then this year all of a sudden they got tickets in the post. There is serious mismanagement in the service.

The Minister did say she was going to be accommodating all the children who completed the application and ticket registration process on time this year and they will be accommodated on school services where they are in operation. What happens if they are in operation and those buses are full? Will the Minister put on extra buses in that area? Is that going to be a possibility?

I note the Minister did not mention the remote area grant today. That grant is available, although a lot of people may not even know it is, for people who are living outside the distances of the school. Is there any way the Minister could increase the payment rate on that grant? Fuel has gone up. The daily rate is currently €1.30 for children living between 3.2 km and 4.7 km from the school. If someone is 9.7 km away they can get €5.10 a day. Is there any way the Minister can look at that grant and increase the daily rates, if possible? That might take a little bit of pressure off parents as well. That grant is paid annually. Is there any way it could be paid each term? In light of the cost-of-living crisis, is there any way these applications could be submitted after each of the three school terms? That might also alleviate the pressure on parents somewhat.

Somebody spoke earlier about transport for children with special needs. That is a serious issue. There is one particular child in my town of Duleek and the bus driver comes from Monaghan to bring that child half a mile up the road. It does not make sense to make such a trip twice a day. We need to look at why that is happening. There are local facilities and buses. I do not know what the criteria are, but we need to look at that because it is an obvious waste of money. There is no reason a bus driver from County Meath- or even a bus driver in County Louth, which borders Meath - should not bring that child to a school in the county.

The Minister faces challenges. I am glad she is going to look after those children who have previously had places on buses and who have applied again. Is the Minister of the view that the 6,000 students who did not meet the criteria last year will get places on buses this year? That is what I really want to know. Is there any way that the staff who run the school transport system on behalf of Bus Éireann can be increased in some way? Can more manpower be given to that particular service, specifically for the months of July, August and September, when it is under severe pressure? It is unfair that the relevant section is not being properly manned in order to allow it to deliver a better service for parents, and for local and national representatives. Ultimately, when one has the knowledge, one can communicate back to the individuals. When one cannot get answers, however, people despair.

I wish the Minister well. There has been a bit of mayhem this year, but I have no doubt that she will get the extra money required from the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform next year and that the service will improve then.