Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and thank her for being here tonight. Many of us deal with parents. Senators Garvey and Lombard eloquently touched upon the emotions involved. The raw emotion of students and their families impacts on us as well. I am dealing with the case of 15 students from Ballinhassig who are travelling to Kinsale without a bus ticket.The bottom line relates to the human emotion of frustration and the lack of certainty and clarity. I commend the Minister on fighting for and achieving in the budget the waiver of fees and the increase in the number of places. Sinn Féin talks about how the Government did not plan. That is the new Sinn Féin mantra for everything, including in regard to the refugee crisis, for which, of course, the Government could not prepare. I challenge Senator Ó Donnghaile in that respect. How could the Government have prepared for 100,000 refugees to come into the country at the drop of a hat? In this case, 21,000 additional places have been given, which is a positive.

Opposition Senators have been listening to this debate. A total of 121,000 students have availed of the scheme, including 15,500 special needs students. Senator Garvey is correct; we could spend an entire month debating special educational needs in this House and I would love if we could do that because the issue is in need of reform. To be fair to the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, and the Minister, there is a strong presence in the Department of Education. A total of €289 million was given to the scheme in 2021. What we need to see is a roadmap to avoid the frustration, annoyance and anger of parents.

This is not a political issue. The Minister was an educator and, like me, she understands the importance of a happy child and a happy parent in a school environment, and on the continuum of the provision of education. To those who criticise the scheme, let us look at what we have achieved in the additional places and the waiver of the fee, but we should accept that we can improve the scheme. It is about talking to the local bus inspector, the school community being kept informed and the certainty and clarity.

I thank Senators McGahon, Lombard and Dolan for their contributions on our side of the House. They have been strong in advocating on this issue. All of us on this side who have raised the matter are doing so in a purely political atmosphere here in the Seanad because it is our forum, but we are trying to achieve, in consultation and agreement with the Minister, a roadmap and a pathway for school places on buses for students and children. I see my nieces and nephews going to school and recognise that, in some cases, not all students avail of their seats on the bus even though they have been allocated them. I would like to see the statistics on this. Additional tickets have been allocated, but how many students are not taking their seat on the bus or availing of it, and can we do something in that regard? It is important to recognise there are still spaces on the buses. Senator Kyne referred to the over-70s. I am a member of the Joint Committee on Transport and Communications. Representatives of the bus and coach industry appeared before us last week and we raised the matter of bus drivers over the age of 70. As for the free seats that are not being taken up on buses, is there a mechanism whereby we can allow that seat to be availed of by students who cannot get one?

I thank the Minister for being here. She has my full support in tackling this issue. It is an important one. The mid-term break next week will give some relief to families and students, but in the winter months I hope we can bring certainty. I will share my remaining time with Senator Carrigy.