Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

My first point is slightly off topic, but I thank the Minister for the early announcement of €40 million in funding for the summer programme 2023. I am Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Autism and that is an issue we have highlighted. We passed a resolution at yesterday's meeting and will issue a report to both Houses. The funding has been put there by the Government for the programme, and we just want schools and principals to take up the scheme and ensure that all children will be able to avail of the school-based programme next year.

Many of the points I had intended to make have been made. I spoke on the previous occasion about the number of issues in schools in Longford, some of which have been sorted while others have not been sorted. We do not even have a point of contact within Bus Éireann or the Department to whom we can speak to identify these local issues and ensure they are sorted out. That is a source of much of the frustration we have as public representatives.

The issue of over-70s bus drivers was mentioned. To give an example, my uncle owns a bus company. He is over 70 years of age. He cannot drive a bus from Ballinalee, where I live, to a fine community school about 11 miles away, but he can drive it from the school to Belfast, Cork, Dublin or Galway and bring the same students on the bus to a football match, a basketball match or whatever. He cannot bring them to school, however, because the contract is with the school transport office. That needs to be looked at. He is medically fit to drive that bus anywhere in Ireland but he cannot drive it to the school. That should not be used as an issue and it should be dealt with.

I also raised the point about a 59-seater bus in respect of a route with a 53-seater contract. A 59-seater bus that is parked in a yard could travel on that route and bring an additional six kids, but that will not or cannot be changed. These are the little issues that could be resolved if we had points of contact, and they need to be looked at.

As Senator Buttimer noted, on every route in the country, there are families who have been allocated tickets and have probably never used the seat so far this term. We need to consider some sort of a system whereby, after a certain period, if that ticket has not been used, it should be withdrawn and allocated to a family who need it. This issue applies to every route going to every school in the country. A number of seats have never been used, yet there are people standing on the side of the road or being brought by their parents.

I wished only to highlight those issues. They apply in particular to the schools in Moyne and Ballymahon. We should have a point of contact within the school transport office, because it does not reply, to which we could highlight these issues and point them out. Where there are simple solutions, let us use them.