Eileen Flynn (Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister, Deputy Foley, to the House. She will have six minutes and group spokespersons will have seven minutes.

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank Senators for the invitation to make a statement to update them on the school transport provision for the current school year. School transport was established in 1968. It was created to facilitate access to primary and post-primary education for those children who, because of where they reside, might otherwise have difficulty attending school regularly. Of course there have been considerable changes in Irish society since the scheme was first established but the scheme continues to provide a significant level of service for children and young people right across the State. In the 2021-22 school year over 121,400 children, including over 15,500 children with special educational needs, were transported on a daily basis to primary, post-primary and special schools. In 2021, the total cost of providing school transport amounted to €289 million. This includes direct transport services and grant payments. It also includes funding to schools for the employment of escorts to accompany children with special educational needs whose care and safety needs require this support.

In July 2022, the Government announced funding for the waiving of school transport scheme fees for eligible applicants for the 2022-23 school year as part of a wider package of cost-of-living measures. Eligibility criteria remained the same as in previous years. School transport ticket registration for the 2022-23 school year closed on 29 July, by which time almost 130,000 applicants or registrations were received for mainstream school transports. This figures includes 44,299 new applicants as well as roll-overs from the previous school year. Any application completed after this date is a late application and therefore many school transport services are already operating at full capacity. Late applications will only be assessed after all on-time applications have been processed and there can be no guarantee of places for late applicants. Already 126,000 tickets for the mainstream scheme alone have been issued to applicants for the 2022-23 school year. A further 17,600 have been issued in respect of the special education scheme. At the start of the last school year, there were approximately 103,600 children carried on mainstream school transport services so already in the region of 22,400 additional places have been created. This is a 22% increase overall in the number of mainstream seats on the service.

The temporary waiving of fees has led to an unprecedented expansion of the scheme, with many more eligible and concessionary applicants receiving tickets than ever before. There has been an increase in tickets allocated across all counties with an increase of over 18% in the number of tickets issued to eligible pupils compared with the start of the 2021-22 school year and an increase of over 27% in the number of tickets issued to concessionary pupils in comparison with the start of the 2021-22 school year.

Notwithstanding this, I acknowledge that the huge increase in applications has led to frustration over delays in issuing tickets and establishing services in some instances. Given this unprecedented demand for school transport for the current school year, there has been an increased volume of calls to both the dedicated Bus Éireann customer care centre and the school transport section of the Department. The Department agreed to additional resources to facilitate additional staff in the customer care centre with a view to alleviating the waiting and call answer times. There is also a facility in place whereby public representatives can email queries on behalf of their constituents directly to Bus Éireann.

It is very important to note that the waiving of transport fees remains contingent on applicants meeting the normal eligibility criteria of the scheme. Tickets continue to be allocated in line with these criteria. Pupils at primary level are eligible where they live no less than 3.2 km from and are attending their nearest primary school. At post-primary level, students who live no less than 4.8 km from and are attending their nearest post-primary school or education centre are deemed eligible. Any pupil or student who does not meet these criteria is deemed not eligible, otherwise known as a concessionary applicant. Such pupils are allocated a ticket based on the availability of a seat when all eligible children or young people have been catered for.

For this year, and in line with normal practice, all eligible children and young people who completed the application and ticket registration process on time for the 2022-23 school year have now been accommodated on school transport services where such services are in operation. In addition, pending completion of the outcome of the full review of the school transport scheme, temporary alleviation measures at post-primary level will be continued for the 2022-23 school year. Under these measures, transport will be provided for post-primary pupils who are eligible for transport to their nearest school and are attending their second nearest school, and who applied by 29 April and registered by 29 July.

Both the Department and Bus Éireann are very conscious of the challenges faced by parents awaiting transport for students with special educational needs.Families of children who are eligible for these services but experience a delay with accessing them may, therefore, apply for the special transport grant. This is a once-off grant paid retrospectively to families to assist with the cost of private transport arrangements that the families have put in place until services are finalised. Where a new service is sanctioned this means a procurement or vetting process is required. In many instances, the school is also sanctioned to employ a transport escort and this necessarily takes time to put in place. By accepting applications year round the Department can ensure that children with special educational needs receive the transport they require. To ensure the efficient delivery of services to children and special educational needs school transport, Bus Éireann assesses each application to assess the options available. Where children can be facilitated on an existing service applications are processed immediately and arrangements are put in place with the families involved.

As part of the budgetary process some additional funding has been approved for the scheme, which will allow officials in the Department of Education, in consultation with Bus Éireann, to consider and evaluate where temporary additional capacity may be available. Bus Éireann is initially focusing on where families applied on time and previously held concessionary tickets. However, it is important to stress that this is subject to capacity considerations. Constraints on sourcing of vehicles and drivers in certain areas of the county may also mean that it may take a number of weeks to explore solutions for additional capacity.

The Department is continuing to conduct a review of the school transport scheme, which includes an examination of the current scheme and how it is operating, its broader effectiveness and sustainability, and that it adequately supports the provision of services to students and their families. The steering group will continue to report to me on an interim basis as the review progresses.

Once again, I thank the Senators for the invitation to appear here today.

Eileen Flynn (Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. The first spokesperson for Fianna Fáil is Senator Chambers.

Lisa Chambers (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the Chamber and I thank her for her update on school transpor, which is welcome at a time when families are dealing with a cost-of-living crisis for the cost of school transport to be waived for many families across the country. Many thousands of families have benefited. It was a really good news story that may not have received the feedback that it deserved because a lot of focus was placed on the smaller problem of the small numbers of students who were not accommodated immediately, which we are still working towards. It is important to acknowledge that there was a significant investment in school transport at a time when many families needed it and that help was really appreciated by many families.

In terms of the eligibility criteria and how we assess school transport, I thank the Minister and her office for their consistent engagement, getting back to people and working with us on a case-by-case basis to assist people. Those efforts are appreciated and I know that it took a lot of work to do that.

Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I agree and thank the Minister.

Lisa Chambers (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The time has come for us to get away from categorising tickets as concessionary and being eligible for them or not. We must move to a space where any child who wants to get a bus to school should be allowed to do so. We want to get people out of their cars. It does not make sense to have parents in a situation where they must drive their children to school. In an environment and society where for many families, if not the majority, both parents work getting children to school is a huge stress on many families. That is why many parents who had concessionary tickets found themselves in a situation where not having access to a bus made it really difficult for them to get to work on time and to juggle family life, which is already quite stressful for many. That is why I would like us to move away from that situation.

Provision of school transport should be within reason. I acknowledge that in many instances it is not safe for children and their families to walk or cycle to school. Local authorities must provide proper walking and cycling infrastructure because many families would avail of same. Families with children attending primary school are not going to walk very far. A distance between a school and home might seem short to us but it would be a big distance for a primary school student. School transport should be available as close as possible to schools so that anybody outside of that bracket qualifies for a ticket. I ask that the Department provides enough buses to service that. Ultimately, that is where this debate will have taken us. We are now looking at that. The time is right as it makes sense to use school transport with the climate agenda, and it would get people out of their cars and travelling together.

I thank the Minister for the work that she has done to tackle this school transport issue. It was a challenge because this year thousands more people sought bus tickets than the previous year. The Department has done a good job in contacting people. I know that there were challenges in securing extra buses and drivers. It was not acknowledged that the Minister cannot simply magically provide extra buses and drivers where they do not exist. There was also a particular pressure caused by trying to get buses and drivers during the tourism season because other people used their buses for different jobs. Unfortunately, there was some commentary throughout this process that sought to amplify the issue and problem. That was mainly done for political gain by some parties but not everyone. Rather than whipping up anger the time would have been better spent working with local communities and the Department to source buses. Lots of people did that but not everyone, which is regrettable. We will learn from the experience.

Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I shall give half of my time to Senator Tim Lombard.

I came in here believing that we had turned a corner. I say that because what started out as a fantastic initiative has caused a hell of a lot of difficulties and division in rural areas. Now, I have heard Senator Chambers say here that our raising this as a major issue for rural areas is somehow a difficulty. We represent the families who were impacted by this.

Lisa Chambers (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I wish to make a point of order. I did not reference any individual Senator and I was not talking about Senator Dolan.

Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Right.

Lisa Chambers (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

With respect, I would appreciate if the Senator did not target me personally for making my own comments, which I am perfectly entitled to do within my speaking slot. I never mentioned the Senator.

Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Many Senators in this Chamber raised school transport as a major issue.

Lisa Chambers (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I am one of them.

Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

As the Minister is aware, the initiative has caused a lot of difficulties and division. The initiative is fantastic but I, like many representatives here and every public representative, have had to deal with families who were in tears when telling me about trying to manage work and leave in time to collect their children because they could no longer rely on buses that they had availed of for years. I must admit that I am pretty taken aback.

The Minister spoke about effectiveness and sustainability. When will we see the school transport report? Will we see it by the end of this year? I ask because we need notice; Bus Éireann and its teams also deserve notice from the Department of Education early enough to allow them to plan ahead.

We have fought for budget and there has been a budget allocation. There are also challenges with capacity and Bus Éireann needs early notice in order that it can manage capacity challenges.

The school transport issues are hugely challenging in rural areas as they do not have public transport and infrastructure. As the Minister will have seen here, Senator Lombard represents west Cork, I represent east Galway and County Roscommon, and Senator Garvey represents County Clare. I refer to all of the Senators who are here to speak about school transport. It is important, as has been noted, that when we consider this model for next year, we ensure it benefits families across Ireland.

In terms of a driving career, we need to incentivise people, particularly those who live in rural areas, be it part-time farmers or party-time carers. What can be done to incentivise those groups who live in rural areas to think about becoming bus drivers? How can we incentivise them to think about having a Class B or Class D licence and a people carrier or minibus, and being able to sign for a PPQ with Bus Éireann? The Department needs to incentivise people and, along with Bus Éireann, roll out an attractive package. We need to ensure that there is better access to capacity and resources. I ask for these things because I never want to hear again the stress and anxiety among people and families which was caused by the mayhem in bus transport provision and providing concessionary tickets. It is more beneficial to have more transport in rural areas, and to have safer pick-up and drop-off zones around schools. I found it very difficult to see the stress, anxiety and mayhem that occurred in the last couple of months.

Tim Lombard (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the Chamber. I have met her twice today as earlier I met her while we attended a committee.

I wish to start by discussing special education. School transport is a huge issue and one that affects the lives of a great numbers of people. School transport is even more important to families who have a child with special educational needs but it is mid-term break and there are still no places, which causes serious issues. I wish to mention three cases - Innishannon to Cork, Ballinhassig to Cork, and Belgooly going to Cork. These cases have been well flagged with Bus Éireann but that company has made no response.

Earlier the Minister spoke about the dedicated email address provided to deal with requests. My office staff sent me a text as she was speaking to inform me that they have never gotten a response from the dedicated address. No response ever has been received. We have emailed Bus Éireann about these children and we cannot get a response for their parents. Senator Dolan mentioned the stress caused. When people have a special child and need that actual support but do not get responses, we have a big issue with that. I have contacted the Minister's office about this issue. We have a cohort of perhaps 35 children - I could probably name them - in west Cork who do not have a school bus place at the moment. There are seven in Rossmore, 15 in Ballyhass, four in Nohoval, two in Dunderrow and others in Newcestown and Crossbarry. I have parents ringing the office every week. Every time school transport is mentioned in the Seanad they are listening in. They call my office to find out what the story is, where they will get information and if and when the will get a school bus ticket. An announcement made after the budget raised expectations and parents thought tickets were to be granted. They do not know when, where or what is going to happen. The mid-term break is approaching and I have no answer for them. I cannot tell them to get appropriate transportation because there will be no school bus for them this year.

The majority of the parents have told me they made the application in April and went through the process like they do every year. Some have said they did not get the link and others have said they did not tick the link, but the majority went through the application process in April. This is a significant problem for us. I am looking for clarity on this from the Minister. What do I tell these parents? Do I tell them there is no hope? The majority of these children were on school buses last year. Do I tell them to keep on trying and we might get there eventually? The Hallowe'en mid-term is next week and we still do not have any light at the end of the tunnel with regard to this issue.

This is a significant problem and I do not have answers. Senator Dolan and I, and other Senators, sought this hearing to find out what the pathway is. The Minister might advise us of that. Is there no hope for these children now? Are we to say these tickets may come? Where do we go with this issue?

There are other issues. I have had bus companies contacting me to say they have bus capacity and could sort out the service but they lack direction from Bus Éireann. I believe there has been a complete breakdown of communication between Bus Éireann and the parents involved. I cannot speak for the Department. We need to have a roadmap but we do not have one. As other Senators have correctly stated, we need to have a policy in place that leaves no child behind. At the moment we are leaving children behind, even children with special needs, which is terrible altogether. What are we to tell these kids now? Where is the roadmap? Where does the Minister believe we should go? Is this the end of the road for these children? Must they wait until next year to try their luck?

Róisín Garvey (Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as teacht isteach ar 6 p.m. leath slí tríd an tseachtain. Tá a fhios agam go bhfuil sí an-ghnóthach so tá meas mór agam uirthi as teacht isteach.

We have had school transport issues for years and since long before the Minister, Deputy Foley, was ever appointed. We cannot put all of the blame on her, especially when her role requires her to deal with every single aspect of education and not just school transport. The school transport section has let the Minister down and has been letting people in rural Ireland down for many years, not just this year. Every single September for the past three years and since I got involved in politics, I have been plagued by people begging me to sort out school bus tickets. They are getting no communication from the school transport section of the Department. There is a serious issue and goes back long before the Minister was appointed.

When free school transport was offered it was a brilliant idea. Unfortunately, its roll-out, as the Minister will be aware and other Ministers have explained, has been disturbing, to say the least. When I brought this matter up last week, I asked two specific questions, neither of which was answered by the Minister's officials. I am aware the Minister does not write her own answers and I could not possibly expect her to, but the answer from her officials was insulting. They did not answer the questions we asked. As a result, we had to get the Minister into the Chamber today for an hour to try to get some real answers. I asked two simple questions on the day. The first was what the Department had done in preparation for implementing this great idea of providing free transport to increase the number of available bus drivers. The second was whether there is a plan to do a recruitment drive for bus drivers. Neither question was answered. That is not the Minister's fault but it is not good enough for people who take the time to contact me or for me, having taken the time to raise the matter in the House. The purpose of Commencement matters is to get answers to questions from Ministers in different Departments.

There is no logic or cop-on in the school transport section. Bus routes are often out of date and do not pass areas where students need to be picked up. The Minister has been told the students who applied for their bus tickets in time all got their bus tickets and are all happy now. Unfortunately, that is just not true. I have lots of cases of students who applied for the bus ticket for the first time ever and got one, whereas students who have always paid for a ticket did not get one. I am delighted for those students who got a ticket for the first time. I am really happy for them because school transport should always have been free for everybody. I have been asking for that for years having worked with school transport. Unfortunately, that causes divisions and the last thing we need in rural communities is division. We want to try to bring communities together. There are inconsistencies in that regard. I do not know who is responsible in the Department or the school transport section. I cannot blame our local inspector in Bus Éireann in Limerick and Clare because she has been doing stellar work trying to sort out drivers for buses because of the shortages.

It is just not true, as the Minister has been told, that all students who applied for bus tickets on time got them. That is not the case, unfortunately. It is also not the case that all buses are full. Students are being told they cannot get a bus ticket because the buses are full, yet the buses are being driven around half-empty. I am not making this up. That is a fact. I have seen the buses myself. Parents are also driving behind buses because one child got a ticket and a sibling did not, so the parents still have to drive their children to school.

There are also issues with the rule that students must live a certain distance from their school. We should remove the distance rule in the long term because until we have proper walking and cycling infrastructure, taking a bus is the next best option. The limit is set at 2.4 miles, I believe. That was grand 40 years ago when the rest of us could walk and cycle safely to school, but it is not an option now. We must look at that distance barrier because it is prohibiting people who live too far from school or cannot walk or cycle safely to school from getting the school bus.

I would like it if we did not have to continue pestering the Department of Education using the email for public representatives to try to get answers for parents basically because the parents are not getting answers themselves. The email system has failed and is not working. The facility is being centralised in Dublin and there is no longer an email or phone number available for Limerick. Schools in Clare and Limerick used to have that. When we eventually get through to Dublin, the people on the line do not have a clue what we are talking about because they have not received the email that was sent in. There are lots of issues.

I praise the Minister for introducing free school transport. It is a brilliant idea. Petrol and diesel prices are a big part of the reason people have applied for tickets who may never have applied before. As a single parent, I remember when my son was younger I only needed him to get a lift home from school in the evenings. I just did not have €350 for a ticket and I could not get a half-price school ticket even though I could get him to school in the mornings. There are lots of different issues, including legacy issues that arose long before the Minister's time. I would love to work with the Minister on this. I worked on modal shift with schools for 12 years full-time, including on school transport. I worked well with bus drivers on turning off their engines. Engine idling, or leaving engines running, is a major issue. The bus drivers do not pay for the fuel. The Department and the taxpayer pay for it.

We need to do the basics for people. They need to receive replies to emails and phone calls. I do not know if the Department needs more staff or what is happening but it is not good enough at the moment. It is not our job to follow up about every single bus ticket. That is a waste of our time. We have been doing that because we want to serve our constituents, but if the system was improved, it would free up our time and parents would be treated with the respect they deserve when they try to get their child a place on a school bus.

Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Exactly.

Róisín Garvey (Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The special needs issue is a whole other can of worms. We could have another one-hour session on it. I have parents crying down the phone to me. Then, because of something I did, I may get them a transport service but I do not want to be the one who has to do that. I want the system to work for everybody equally, not only for those who get on to politicians who know the best way to get things done is to harass the Department to get an issue sorted.

Does the Minister have figures on the increase in the number of bus drivers or in the bus fleet? That is also an issue. Another issue is the 56-seater buses being driven round with only 20 pupils in them because there are not enough smaller buses. That is a waste of fuel. On small country roads, if there are not 56 kids to collect, it is crazy to have a 56-seater bus.

I wish the Minister the best and I look forward to working with her on this issue. It is brilliant that school transport is free. If we addressed the distance rule, we could completely remove cars from the road, make our roads safer again and reduce costs and stress for parents.I do not have a kid looking for a bus but even just dealing with all the parents and their stress has been stressful. I cannot imagine what it is like for the people being left at the side of the road. In my village of Inagh, we had 52 kids left in the rain on a Tuesday morning. Nobody picked them up. Nothing was communicated and nobody knew what was happening. It took a good ten days for it to be resolved. We need to do better. There are also inconsistencies with the way the contractors get the money. Some contractors pay their bus drivers very well and some are offering them less than minimum wage. That is not going to encourage people to take up the jobs either. There are many issues here. Go n-éireoidh leis an Aire leis an bhfadhb seo a réiteach. Táim ag súil go mór le bheith ag obair léi chun é a réiteach.

Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. Táim ag glacadh na ráitis seo ar son mo chomhghleacaí, an Seanadóir Warfield, nach bhfuil ar fáil anocht.

I welcome the opportunity to address the Minister on these important statements, the reasons for which colleagues have outlined. Every year, we have a situation where children and young people are tuned away from school transport because of a failure by the Government to recognise demand and invest in extra capacity. A number of months ago, Sinn Féin called for 10,000 extra places to be funded and made available to help meet demand when parents across the State were getting notified that they had failed to secure a seat for their child on the local school bus.

Each and every year, the school transport scheme is significantly oversubscribed. Instead of harnessing that demand, Government Deputies sit on their hands. The Government has allowed the situation to repeat itself year after year. Fáinne fí atá i gceist leis seo. We need to stop this repetitive cycle. This issue causes huge headaches and problems for parents who are trying to juggle their work commitments. It gives Senator Garvey terrible anxiety, as she outlined very clearly.

School transport chaos is the new normal for so many families due to Government incompetence. In the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, we have a situation where parents across the State are now faced with the reality of giving up work because of the mess. In addition, we turn thousands of children away from a public transport option. That is totally at odds with our climate ambitions. It results in thousands of extra private car journeys to and from schools each and every day.

While a decision by Government to temporarily eliminate school transport fees for the 2022-2023 school year was welcome, it did nothing to address the capacity constraints. The Government should have anticipated there would be increased demand. More needs to be done going forward so that we are not having the same conversation once again next year. For our part, Sinn Féin has repeatedly called for 10,000 extra seats to be added to the system. We need to invest in new school buses and eliminate school transport fees. By expanding the school transport scheme, we can cut transport emissions, reduce dangerous traffic congestion outside schools and provide parents and guardians with a convenient method of transport for their kids. All this would be a win-win situation for parents and the environment. I would, therefore, encourage the Minister and her colleague, the Minister for Transport, to use the time in the academic year to increase capacity to ensure as many children as possible can be accommodated going forward. Déanann sé ciall, go huile agus go hiomlán, an cinneadh seo a ghlacadh.

Catherine Ardagh (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire chuig an Teach inniu. I am delighted to speak on the school transport scheme today. For so many families, not just those in this particular calendar year but going forward into the future, this will be transformative in how they carry on their days, especially working families and parents.

Having a free school transport scheme will be transformational. Parents will not have those difficulties of picking children up from and dropping them off at school. It is really hard for anyone to stand up today in this House and diss this scheme. Obviously, we all know there will always be teething problems with huge investment. This is such a welcome measure. I do not think one parent in the country will say it is not. There have been teething problems and issues around the country. On the whole, however, I think those issues have been resolved.

We do not have a huge need for school transport in Dublin. Unfortunately, school transport comes into the picture when it comes to children in special schools who have to be transferred to schools outside their catchment areas, which is a separate issue. School transport exists in that setting in areas in the city, however.

This scheme must be commended. I cannot see a downside. How families in rural Ireland live over the next decade will be completely different from how they are living now in terms of their daily morning and afternoon routines. It will make life much easier for parents and families, not just for their purse but for their time.

Seán Kyne (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Senator Ahearn will not be here as far as I know. The Minister is welcome to the Chamber. I acknowledge, as I have previously, that this was a cost-of-living measure and the right thing to do. I will read for the Minister an email I received this morning:

I desperately need a ticket please. I find it unacceptable that children in desperate need of a ticket in order to access education are finding it so difficult to get them. Thank you so much for your attention. I look forward to hearing from you. I cannot stress enough how much I need to get my daughter onto a school bus please.

That was from a parent who made a late application, in fairness, because that family bought a house and had only moved to the area. The issue that parent faces is that they can see the bus going from Rosscahill to Oughterard and the bus is three quarters to half-full or half-empty, depending on which way one wants to look at it. The seats are allocated, however. Parents have the tickets and are not using them. That is a frustration for parents. How do we counteract that? I do not know.

I have spoken to inspectors who, in fairness, are doing a tremendous job in trying to placate us with regard to reducing the number of parents and children affected. As I said, however, parents still see a half-full or half-empty bus and they cannot get their child on board. The inspectors have written out to parents without success to ask whether they can surrender and give up any tickets they are not using.

There are a number of solutions. Obviously, the first solution is more buses and more drivers. We know that has been a challenge. It was suggested before that the prohibition on people aged over 70 driving a school bus could be looked at again. is there any update on that? It may be a matter for Bus Éireann. People aged over 70, who are fully fit and able, drive buses to bring the same children to football games or elsewhere but they cannot bring them to school. That is one solution.

There is another solution. From talking to Bus Éireann staff on the ground, they do not know which children are not availing of the seats. They cannot find out because of general data protection regulation, GDPR, and whatever else. Surely, and perhaps this is not for this year but maybe into the future, there might be a possibility that a child could swipe and be registered as he or she enters the bus. After a while, if a child is not using the ticket, we could say, "Sorry Johnny, you are not using this. We will give it to someone who can." It would mean using technology to find out who is actually using a ticket and who has one in his or her back pocket in case it might be needed sometime during the month or whenever. Unfortunately, that is happening, which is a pity because this is a right measure and a right move. It is alleviating hardship for those who have had to pay in the past, but it is causing problems.

We should see what can be done in the short term regarding providing additional routes. One example with which I have been dealing is that of children on the bus from Killane and Rosscahill into Oughterard. There are other cases, however. I cannot understand why there is no bus, for example, to the Educate Together school in Galway from Moycullen, but there are seats on other buses that will get students in proximity to that school. We do not seem to be able to get that sorted. There are issues and ongoing problems here.

I acknowledge the importance of the scheme and why it was brought in. It is saving parents money but it is also causing frustration to those who see empty, half-empty or three quarter-empty buses onto which they cannot get their children.

Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | 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.

Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | 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.

Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

To pick up on that point, it is infuriating given there are obvious, simple solutions that do not seem to be listened to when we put them forward. This was well intended, but a lot of the problems we are talking about have been caused by us, the Government, and that is just a fact. Everyone who has been in that situation and who has been left without a seat on the bus is well aware that because it was made free for everyone and, therefore, everyone decided they were going to take it, that even included people who did not necessarily need it. Because of the announcement in the budget, people thought all of this was going to be resolved, but it has not been resolved and that is just a fact. A certain number of people now take the bus and they are very grateful for that. Their way of life has gone back to normal through being able to get on a bus and go to work and not having to make changes on the back of it. However, there are still people who cannot get on a bus.

As recently as today, I received an email from the principal of a school in Cahir, who told me that even kids who attend the autism spectrum disorder class in his school are still not sure when their bus is going to be available. The school has parents who bring children from Clonmel and Kilsheelan every day, and one pupil who is meant to come from Fethard has been unable to come because no transport is available for him. The principal stated the school has been waiting eight weeks into the school year, with Hallowe'en next Monday, and that notwithstanding all the problems with school transport this year, children are still unable to attend school, particularly those with additional educational needs. He went on to write that the school has not heard final confirmation of when the service is to start and underlined that that is not acceptable. The fact that kids with additional educational needs cannot get to school is just unacceptable. The principal keeps trying to contact the Department of Education and keeps coming to us looking for information on how we can resolve these problems. If we cannot resolve these ones, what are we at?

I recognise that much has been done over recent weeks, but we are eight weeks in and we are still getting emails like this about cases. I am sure other Senators are in the same position. Vulnerable people, at the very least, need to be supported to get an education.

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I once again thank Senators for the opportunity to update the House on school transport for the current school year. I will reiterate what I outlined at the outset, which is that 126,000 tickets have been issued to applicants for the 2022-23 school year under the main scheme alone. At the start of the last school year, approximately 103,600 children were being carried on mainstream school transport services and, therefore, in the region of 22,400 additional places have been created. All eligible pupils who applied on time this year have been facilitated on a service for the 2022-23 school year. There has been an increase in the number of tickets allocated across all counties, with an increase of more than 18% in the number of tickets issued to eligible pupils and an increase of more than 27% in the number of concessionary tickets issued to pupils when compared with the start of the 2021-22 school year.

While the temporary waiving of fees has led to an unprecedented expansion of the scheme with many more eligible and concessionary applicants receiving tickets than ever before, I acknowledge that the increase in the number of applications has led to frustration over delays. However, it is important to note that the normal eligibility criteria for the scheme still apply and that tickets continue to be allocated in line with these criteria. As I said previously, there has been an unprecedented increase in applications from families whose children are eligible for school transport this year. These children and young people must be prioritised as dictated by the scheme. I am aware that this had led to a particular frustration this year as some families whose children attend their third, fourth or even fifth closest school or who live within the distance limits and who have held tickets previously did not receive one. Bus Éireann is continuing to assess options to provide transport to pupils who held concessionary tickets in previous years where temporary additional capacity is available to do so. It is again important to stress that constraints in sourcing vehicles and drivers in certain areas of the country may mean that it takes some extra time to explore solutions to providing this additional capacity for those who did not meet the eligibility criteria.

As I mentioned, the Department is conducting a review of the school transport scheme. Wider considerations relating to the operation of the scheme are currently taking place in this phase of the review. As Senators will be aware, this review is long overdue and I am pleased that, as Minister, I initiated it. As part of the current phase of the review, the technical working group has undertaken extensive consultation, including running a public survey for parents, guardians and students who use the service and, perhaps more important, for those who do not use the service but would like to. These engagements have yielded extensive data for consideration. The group has also consulted with a broad array of stakeholders, including schools, special education interest groups, industry representatives, other Departments and our European counterparts. While work on the review was somewhat impacted by challenges posed by the pandemic and the current conflict in Ukraine, it is anticipated that the final phases of the review will be completed shortly with recommendations to issue on the future operation of the Department's school transport scheme. The steering group will continue to report to me on an interim basis as the review progresses.

I will conclude by again acknowledging that, when school transport fees were waived, which was a cost-of-living measure as Senators have acknowledged, it was clear that this was for those who met the eligibility criteria. It behoves everyone within this Chamber and elsewhere to acknowledge that there have always been eligibility criteria. There are distance limits of 3.2 km from the nearest primary school and 4.8 km from the nearest or next nearest post-primary school. Those are the criteria. I am not for one minute suggesting that everything about the existing criteria or the existing operation is perfect. It is for that reason that I took the decision to undertake a root-and-branch review of the entire school transport system. This was not before time. There were opportunities previously but they were not taken. As I have articulated, that review is ongoing. Let us be clear that this waiver of school transport fees was introduced for those who met the eligibility criteria.

Let us also concede that a significant number of additional tickets have been provided for. The Senators all represent different areas and come from different backgrounds. In County Galway alone, 8,352 tickets were issued last year; this year, 10,372 have been issued. In County Kildare, 4,607 tickets were issued last year and 5,699 this year. In County Cork, there were 14,047 last year and 16,782 this year. In County Clare, there were 3,052 issued last year and in excess of 3,771 have been issued this year. This time last year, 103,6000 tickets had been issued and 126,000 tickets have been issued so far this year. This represents an increase of 22% in the number of tickets issued. It must not be forgotten that there has also been an increase of 18% in the number of concessionary tickets, which is far in excess of the 10,000 Senator Ó Donnghaile's party suggested should be catered for.

The Senator specifically referenced special education. Children with special educational needs are eligible to apply for the transport scheme at any point in the year. There is no particular cut-off point. At this point, 4,775 new applications are being provided for and there are 17,600 places for children with special educational needs, SEN, in total. This represents an increase of more than 2,000. Because applications can arrive at any point in the year, there can at times be additional difficulties in sourcing transport where there is not capacity. For that reason, grants are made available in the interim until bus transport can be provided. There are also issues in recruiting personnel to support the students as they travel on the bus. However, it is important to say that students with special educational needs can apply for school transport at any point.

I acknowledge the comments regarding summer provision. I note the Senator's particular interest in this area. The Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, and myself were pleased to announce that €40 million for children with SEN and children at risk of educational disadvantage. Work is ongoing to see how this can be broadened to ensure the greatest number of schools are supported in offering this provision to the maximum number of students.

I acknowledge the other points the Senator raised regarding bus drivers and the cut-off point at 70 years of age. That is a matter for consideration by Bus Éireann. The company informed us that it keeps this under continuous review but that is its current cut-off point. There will always be a particularly stringent threshold when transporting children but this is being kept under review.

I acknowledge and appreciate Senators' interest in, and ongoing commitment to, these issues. In the broadest context, it is important to say that we have seen a significant increase in the number of tickets being made available. There has been an increase of more than 22% in the number of tickets for mainstream transport and an increase of 18% in the number of concessionary tickets while more than 2,000 additional places have been provided for those with SEN. The work continues.