Kathryn Reilly (Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House to discuss the important issues of the primary school transport schemes. The removal of school transport because of the changed criteria for qualification will result in considerable disruption to the lives of children and families. These changes to the primary school transport scheme criteria and the introduction of new charges due to be introduced in September constitute another tax on the family. Some people have put it to me that this is another way of taxing rural families, no more and no less. The Government wants families to provide their own transport and cut as many routes as possible for schools. When implemented, these changes will cause problems and place pressure on children, parents, teachers and bus providers. Traffic hazards will also result where services are to be withdrawn. This will cause extra hardship. The extra cars on the roads will give rise to safety issues in and around schools. The changes go against the commitments given more than 30 years ago when primary schools were amalgamated or closed. Negotiations at the time between the various parties and the Department resulted in an agreement that a service would be provided but now the agreement is being broken. The guarantees given then created a sense of trust and commitment but that no longer exists. This will be detrimental unless there is fair and proper adjudication of the system and it will lead to an erosion of rural villages. We foresee families in rural Ireland moving further and further away from the provision of and access to free primary education.

There are already considerable demands on parents as it stands and primary school education is far from free. Grants are being cut for families who are already making large contributions for books and uniforms. These changes make no sense during a recession. Making it difficult for children to attend school is no way to go in this State because education will get us out of this mess.

The issue for many families is not the introduction of fees but the service itself which, if reduced, slashed or withdrawn will have a great impact. Many of the people to whom I have spoken mentioned children who, because of the implementation of the value for money review, will not have transport to school while their brothers or sisters may be eligible.

Under the four-year national recovery plan, some €4.5 million in savings must be secured in 2011 and the figures rises to €17 million by 2014 through a combination of increases in charges and the implementation of measures identified in the value for money review of the school transport scheme. What else are families, pupils and schools to expect down the line? Guidelines were imposed on distances and I understand the current minimum distance one must live from school is 2 km. More important, if there is not a minimum of ten pupils, a bus will not be provided. That means that if there are nine pupils, they will have no way of getting to school, which is unnerving. What will be done about this? The Minister of State and his colleague, the Minister, Deputy Quinn, have mentioned previously that Bus Éireann is conducting a study of the on-the-ground impact for individuals, schools and the rural communities it serves. This analysis will be based on the most up-to-date information available on current usage patterns. When will this analysis be completed? When can the House scrutinise it? How will the findings of the analysis feed into the impending crisis in September of children's inability to get a bus to school? If the Minister of State seeks a knowledge economy, he had better ensure that children can access knowledge. They need access to a bus service to get to school.

Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)
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Did you intend to give one minute of your time to Senator John Kelly?

Kathryn Reilly (Sinn Fein)
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Yes.

John Kelly (Labour)
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I will be very brief. I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I support fully the sentiments of Senator Reilly. It is an impending crisis coming down the tracks for school transport. I have raised the matter with the Minister of State, Deputy Alan Kelly. If we bring common sense to this we will solve the problem. We need joined-up thinking. These issues relate to rural Ireland. We have a rural transport system in place in rural Ireland. If the Minister of State, Deputy Cannon, and his colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Alan Kelly, get together to work on this issue, we can solve it but the crisis must be solved.

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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Both Senators are referring to the changes in the primary school transport scheme announced in budget 2011 by the previous Fianna Fáil-Green Party Government. These changes derive from recommendations in the value for money review of the school transport scheme and include the introduction of charges, changes to the closed school rule and changes to the minimum numbers required to establish or maintain a service.

I will set out the relevant changes more fully so the Senators will have a better understanding of them. With effect from the 2011-12 school year a transport fee of €50 per annum will be introduced for eligible primary school pupils, with a maximum family charge for eligible primary school pupils only of €110 per annum. Eligible children who hold a valid medical card are exempt from paying the charge. Evidence suggests that school transport charges compare favourably with charges levied by the private sector. While the charges vary, some parents are paying between €20 and €25 per child per week which equates to about €730 or €915 per child per school year at primary level. This charge is being introduced to ensure that school transport provided for eligible primary school pupils is fully utilised in a cost effective manner. From the commencement of the 2011-12 school year, the distance criteria will be applied to all pupils attending primary schools and the exemption under the closed school rule will cease. Parents affected by the application of the distance criterion have been notified by Bus Éireann of changes to their transport eligibility with effect from the 2011-12 school year. These families may apply for concessionary transport.

From the 2012-13 school year, eligibility based on the closed school rule will cease for all new children entering primary schools. It is important to emphasise that existing primary pupils availing of transport under the closed school rule will retain transport eligibility for the duration of their schooling, provided the requisite distance is met.

In regard to this second change scheduled to be implemented in September 2012, Bus Éireann is currently conducting a detailed analysis of the on the ground impact of this for individual schools and the rural communities they serve. It will be available to me late this month or early next month and I will be more than happy to share the information with Senators.

The analysis will be based on the most up-to-date information available on current school transport usage patterns and this information is expected to be available later this summer. The likely effects of this proposed change can be examined well in advance of the 2012 implementation date.

In regard to the minimum numbers required to establish or maintain a service, the changes mean that services under the minimum numbers, either single services or which are parts of double tripping arrangements, will be discontinued. A pick up density of pupils in a distinct locality on a particular route, increasing from the current minimum of seven to ten eligible children, will be required to establish or retain services.

This brings the minimum numbers required to establish services back to 2002 levels. Eligible pupils, for whom a service is being withdrawn, can apply for the remote area grant. I thank the Senators for raising this matter.

Kathryn Reilly (Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State for his reply. On the remote area grant, are families being made aware of it? I have heard serious concern in Cavan and my local area. I attended a rural school. Is the remote area grant being widely publicised? How easy is it to get the grant? We have to consider what will happy if a family car is not available or a parent is at work. If families cannot pay for alternative arrangements what will be done?

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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Any family which is losing a service will be informed of the availability of the grant and accessing it is a very straightforward process which is not too bureaucratic. I also went to a rural school, in east Galway. There were two teachers and 47 pupils when I left a number of years ago. There are now five teachers and 170 pupils in the school which has never had and never will have a school bus service.

I do not completely support the supposition that removing a bus service from a school somehow sounds a death knell for it. Perhaps it will lead to difficulties in certain areas but this is a change we cannot avoid imposing. It is part of an overall saving of €350 million by 2014 to be achieved in the Department of Education and Skills.

The schools transport aspect of the saving is €17 million. The changes implemented this year are expected to produce a saving in the order of €3.5 million and still have to find another €13.5 million in savings over the next three years.