Pauline Tully (Sinn Fein)

I thank the Minister of State for taking this issue. I am conscious that we are almost at the end of September so school is back about a month. There is a situation in St. Bricin's College, Belturbet, County Cavan that has not yet been resolved. I am seeking clarification and what the intention is going forward.

I was contacted by the principal to say there are 32 students enrolled in St. Bricin's school in Belturbet who live in Cavan town or its environs. There are secondary schools in Cavan town but they are all full, or they are full for the years these students need to go into because they are not all first year students. They all have letters stating that they had attempted to enrol, that there is no place for them and they cannot be accepted into the schools. The school was led to believe that if there were ten students or more in this situation that the Department of Education and Youth would sanction a school bus from Cavan town to St. Bricin's College to bring these students. They were informed of that last April. They actually registered for school transport and they paid or put in their medical card details but they have now been left in limbo in that they do not know whether this bus is going to be sanctioned. At the moment, if they can afford it, they are paying for a private bus, which costs €50 week per student. Some students are not attending school because they cannot afford to pay for the bus to get there. One family has three students going to that school so they are paying €150. There is no reduction for siblings or for more than one student in the school. This fee is charged whether the school is open or not, so if there is a day the school is closed for some reason or if there is a bank holiday in the week they still have to pay the €50. I contacted Bus Éireann staff who said they are aware of the situation and that they have notified the Department as they cannot put a route on without sanction from the Department.

I am looking for clarity on what will happen with this. The school was told the bus would be provided if there were ten or more pupils. This has not happened. I understand that normally they would be considered concessionary pupils but because there is no space for them in their nearest schools in their locality, there is a way of putting on a bus for these students to get them to school and not have to pay excessive amounts.