Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. It is refreshing that a senior Cabinet Minister would come to the House for a Private Member's debate and I thank her for that. It is a very positive indication of her concern, notwithstanding the magnificent change she made to the school transport scheme at the outset. I welcome the review and plead with her to expedite it. In fairness, she has said in a number of interviews and during a Commencement matter debate last week in this House that it is important that the review is expedited. The Minister has a very hands-on approach.

In her speech the Minister eloquently referred to the number of new places but there are issues, as she knows quite well. Senator Cummins raised an issue that the Minister can address by encouraging Bus Éireann to engage proactively on the ground. It is the agent, the voice and the face of school transport. I compliment Senator Dolan on the motion before the House and on her work on this issue. Bus Éireann is the representative body. It is a bit like the HSE and the Department of Health. We get the flak but Bus Éireann is the body administering the scheme. It is important that the Minister speaks to the company directly.

The other point that has been made about age cohorts is important and change is needed in that regard. It would be great if the Minister could address that. The Minister is right to say that the school bus service is valued by those in rural Ireland who need and require such a service. The service allows our education system to function and flourish. As a schoolteacher myself, I understand the importance of school transport. Indeed, for those students with special needs or disabilities, our school transport system is pivotal to their empowerment, their living and their flourishing. We should not forget those very important students today.

I thank the Minister for being here. I commend the motion to the House and thank Senator Dolan for submitting it.