Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Sinn Fein)
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Last Wednesday, a delegation of Oireachtas Members from Donegal met the Minister of State with responsibility for school transport, Deputy Halligan, and outlined to him the serious problems being experienced by the almost 30 pupils from the Kilmacrennan and Termon areas who do not have school transport to the two secondary schools in Milford. We also outlined how nine children did not have seats on the bus to Gleneely national school, which is in the north Inishowen area of Donegal. The Minister of State agreed to consider both issues. It is to be hoped he will make an intervention and recommendation. Bus Éireann has made it clear to public representatives in Donegal that it cannot provide more buses under the Department's rules. The Minister of State is to make a decision on the issue.

Since our meeting, though, we have discovered that there is another serious issue in Burnfoot, Bridgend, Tooban and Muff in south Inishowen, which feed into the three secondary schools in Buncrana. Thirty pupils in that area do not have seats on their school buses. All but two of them are eligible for school transport under the Department's rules.

There was a public meeting in Muff last Monday evening. The parents who attended outlined a range of reasons for tickets not being secured. Clearly, there has been miscommunication and there have been misunderstandings. Similarly, there was a public meeting in Termon on Monday evening regarding the Milford schools. Again, parents reported issues.

There needs to be some flexibility. In south Inishowen, approximately 30 pupils are affected. In the Milford area, approximately 30 pupils are affected. In Gleneely in north Inishowen, nine pupils are affected. That is a large number of pupils and parents who have been disadvantaged. We talk about keeping people in rural communities, yet we are not giving them the supports they need in terms of school transport. Most of these are working families with fixed hours, so they must make arrangements. This is a major problem for them.

Something has gone wrong this year. Advance preparation has been an issue. Surely a sense of the numbers requiring school transport at post-primary level can be achieved by contacting the primary schools that feed into those secondary schools. Preparing properly and knowing the number of buses is not a major task with the understanding that, sometimes, communications can go wrong and deadlines can be missed. We cannot leave people standing on the side of the road and without the proper transport.

I emailed the Minister of State's ministerial colleague, Deputy Halligan, last night about the issue in south Inishowen. He has all of the facts regarding Gleneely and Milford and he will have all of the details regarding south Inishowen. He needs to make an intervention. We cannot leave that number of pupils and parents behind. It would be unfair.

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Bruton, and the Minister of State, Deputy Halligan. I thank the Senator for raising it.

Before I address the specific issues raised, I wish to give Senators an outline of the extent of the school transport service. In the 2017-18 school year, more than 117,000 children, including more than 12,000 with special educational needs, were transported daily in approximately 4,500 vehicles to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country, covering more than 100 million kilometres annually at a total cost of almost €190 million. Parental contributions towards the cost of school transport were €15.4 million in 2017, with the remainder paid for by the State.

Children are generally eligible for school transport if they satisfy the distance criteria and are attending their nearest school. Children who are eligible for school transport and who have completed the application process on time have been accommodated on school transport services for the current school year where such services are in operation. Children who are eligible for school transport but for whom no transport service is available may, following an application for transport within the prescribed time limits, receive a remote area grant towards the cost of private transport arrangements.

Children who are not eligible for school transport may apply for transport where spare seats are available after eligible children have been accommodated. This is referred to as concessionary transport. Where the number of ineligible children exceeds the number of spare seats available, Bus Éireann will allocate tickets for the spare seats using an agreed selection process. Under the terms of the scheme, the number of spare seats varies from year to year based on the capacity of the buses running on all of the various routes and the number of eligible children accommodated on each route. Hence, there is no guarantee that an ineligible child who received a place in a previous year will receive a seat the following year. Neither is there a guarantee that a sibling of an ineligible child who receives a ticket will receive a seat. It is included in the terms and conditions on the Bus Éireann online application that availability of seats may vary from year to year and that concessionary transport cannot be guaranteed for the duration of a child's education.

Under the terms of the scheme, routes will not be extended or altered and additional vehicles will not be introduced. Neither will larger vehicles or extra trips using existing vehicles be provided to cater for children who are not eligible, as no additional State cost will be incurred in covering the cost of providing school transport for children who are not eligible.

More than 74,000 children who are eligible for school transport and who completed the application process on time have been issued with tickets for school transport services for the 2018-19 school year. A further 1,100 children who are eligible for school transport but were late in submitting their payment details were unsuccessful in obtaining seats on school transport services, as buses are operating to capacity. In addition, more than 27,500 children who are not eligible for school transport and who paid by the deadline date have been issued with concessionary tickets for school transport. Some 350 children who are not eligible for school transport and who paid by the deadline date were unsuccessful in obtaining concessionary seats on school transport services for the 2018-19 year, as buses are operating to capacity.

The situation referred to by the Senator relates to a number of children whose payments were not received on time and a further number who are not eligible for school transport. As the services in the area are operating at capacity, it will not be possible to accommodate them on school transport services.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Sinn Fein)
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That response was completely unacceptable to me and every other public representative in Donegal. The 30 pupils in south Inishowen whose families are from rural areas and go to Buncrana secondary schools do not have seats on buses. Of the cases we have investigated, this is through no great fault of their own and instead is owing to issues with medical cards and miscommunication. It is unfair.

The Minister of State said "a further number". All but two of the 30 are eligible for school transport. Under the Department's rules, they are entitled to school transport. The Minister of State, Deputy Halligan, needs to intervene and examine this case. Of the 29 pupils in the Milford area, 21 are eligible.I understand that some of them have special needs. We cannot leave those families behind. Nine schoolchildren in Gleneely do not have school transport. That response is unacceptable and it is not in keeping with what the Minister of State, Deputy Halligan, said to us last Wednesday. The Oireachtas Members who were present last Wednesday left hopeful that there might be a solution and that there could be an intervention because of the number of eligible students. The distinction between "eligible" and "concessionary" is a matter for debate because a family in a rural area may live approximately 100 m closer to a school in another town than to the school the family has traditionally gone to. For example, in this case the families have gone to the schools in Milford but they live 100 m closer to a school in Letterkenny and are being punished for that. That is the issue of "eligible" versus "concessionary". Going by the Minister of State's own rules, we have approximately 50 pupils who are eligible for school transport who are being left behind. That is unacceptable to me and to any other public representatives in Donegal who are worth their salt. I appreciate that officials from the Department of Education and Skills wrote the response the Minister of State is delivering today. I ask her to speak to the Minister of State, Deputy Halligan, and to ask him to honour the understanding we had last Wednesday. That is critical at this stage.

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I hear what the Senator is saying and I will make sure that the Minister, Deputy Bruton, and the Minister of State, Deputy Halligan, hear the concerns raised by him and by the group he brought to meet the Minister of State. I will ask him to revert to the Senator specifically.