Róisín Garvey (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The special needs issue is a whole other can of worms. We could have another one-hour session on it. I have parents crying down the phone to me. Then, because of something I did, I may get them a transport service but I do not want to be the one who has to do that. I want the system to work for everybody equally, not only for those who get on to politicians who know the best way to get things done is to harass the Department to get an issue sorted.

Does the Minister have figures on the increase in the number of bus drivers or in the bus fleet? That is also an issue. Another issue is the 56-seater buses being driven round with only 20 pupils in them because there are not enough smaller buses. That is a waste of fuel. On small country roads, if there are not 56 kids to collect, it is crazy to have a 56-seater bus.

I wish the Minister the best and I look forward to working with her on this issue. It is brilliant that school transport is free. If we addressed the distance rule, we could completely remove cars from the road, make our roads safer again and reduce costs and stress for parents.I do not have a kid looking for a bus but even just dealing with all the parents and their stress has been stressful. I cannot imagine what it is like for the people being left at the side of the road. In my village of Inagh, we had 52 kids left in the rain on a Tuesday morning. Nobody picked them up. Nothing was communicated and nobody knew what was happening. It took a good ten days for it to be resolved. We need to do better. There are also inconsistencies with the way the contractors get the money. Some contractors pay their bus drivers very well and some are offering them less than minimum wage. That is not going to encourage people to take up the jobs either. There are many issues here. Go n-éireoidh leis an Aire leis an bhfadhb seo a réiteach. Táim ag súil go mór le bheith ag obair léi chun é a réiteach.