Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the announcement in the budget of an initial €30 million for school transport. As the Cathaoirleach knows it has been discussed on many occasions in this Chamber, at the Oireachtas joint committee, within parliamentary party rooms and on media in recent weeks and months. As we know, there are annual issues but it has been exacerbated by the welcome decision to remove the charge on bus tickets, which has increased the demand, as would be anticipated, and has led to difficulties for students accessing school transport. I welcome the allocation in the budget but from talking to CIÉ representatives on the ground, they say it could be months before this issue is fully dealt with because they cannot get buses or drivers and they would still have to go out to tender for additional services. The impact is that it could be months before students finally get their tickets.

While I welcome the budget allocation, a lot more engagement with CIÉ on the ground by the Department is needed to ensure all options are pursued when it comes to providing services. What we have is a welcome cost-of-living decision made by the Government and the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley. However, the impact is still being felt on the ground and there needs to be a positive and speedy engagement with CIÉ to ensure that adequate services are provided because there is great stress on families and parents who may still have to go out and drive their children to school, where they would have expected them to get the bus. This can have a huge impact on their quality of life, on timing and on everything else within their day-to-day work and lives. I ask the Leader to contact the Minister, Deputy Foley, on the plans to engage with CIÉ on this.