Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail)
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This is my first opportunity to have a debate in this House with the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, since his appointment as Minister of State with responsibility for special education and school transport. We could not have a more committed, compassionate, empathetic person in this role than him. I say that from previous experience on the disability matters committee and in other areas. It does not surprise me at all that he is taking this matter. In so many scenarios, other Ministers are sent to deal with sensitive issues, so I really appreciate him taking the time to be here.

South Kildare is a growing area. We have excellent schools in Newbridge and Kildare town, but with the population growing, there are not enough places. We are practically at capacity at primary school level and over capacity at second level. A commitment was made by the previous education Minister that we would have a new school at McGee barracks, on the edge of Kildare town, close to the Curragh, and that it would be where the children who did not have places in current schools in Newbridge and Kildare would go. We are still waiting for the shovel to go into the ground, even though that is happening at pace. What we do in the interim is important to the pupils, who deserve, need and expect a secondary school place, as do their families.

Curragh Community College is an excellent school under the auspices of the ETB. The principal, Ms Nessa Doyle, and her staff are second to none in terms of the work they do in a very outdated building and with the support of the Department of Defence, which is also the patron of the school. They have opened their facilities and got extra accommodation to deal with the extra numbers, bringing the school to more than twice the number it had physically been able to take. I commend them.

The problem is transport. The Curragh camp was originally a thriving community. It is not now. Sadly, the focus has not been on continuing to have families live there. There is a natural hinterland for families from the Curragh area but now we have students coming from Newbridge and Kildare town.The problem is that no school transport has been laid on. As the Minister of State will know, the policy is that, where there are more than ten students travelling, Bus Éireann, which has the contract, is to put on a bus for those young people but it never has. It is simply not good enough. There is some type of public transport system from Newbridge but it is not consistent. Sometimes the bus takes a different and varying route so pupils are often not able to get it or end up late coming into school. It is not their fault that there is not a school place for them in Newbridge or Kildare. The Department of Education is saying that, because they are outside the catchment area for this school, they are not entitled to school transport. I brought this up approximately two years ago and was told that it would be sorted. That was the pinch point, when the extra students were starting to go to Curragh Community College. Sadly, it is still not rectified. While we are waiting for this new school, it is really important that school transport is put in place for the students who have to travel from Newbridge and from Kildare town. The Department of Education has that responsibility and owes it to the students and their families.

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Senator her very kind remarks. I will endeavour to live up to them. I will give it my best shot. It is a role I eagerly look forward to. I thank the Senator for her engagement on the Joint Committee on Disability Matters. She was extremely informed and extremely forthright in her views. I appreciate that and I appreciate her comments.

I will go through the scheme first of all. Under the current terms of the post-primary school transport scheme, children are eligible for transport where they reside not less than 4.8 km from and are attending their nearest post-primary school. Distance is determined by the Department and Bus Éireann and rules have regard to ethos and languages. Bus Éireann has advised that children residing in Kildare town are not eligible for transport to the Curragh Community College as they are not attending their nearest post-primary school. It further advises that there is no existing service from Kildare town to this school. In cases where families have applied to attend their nearest school, with regard to ethos and language, and have been advised by the school authorities that these schools are full, the Department will consider if the pupil is eligible for transport to the next nearest school. While the closest school may be full to capacity at present, each family must supply to the school transport section of the Department of Education and Youth an application for enrolment made within the deadline dates specified by the school and a letter from each of the school authorities confirming that the school was full. Contact details for the section can be found on the Department's website at .

A minimum number of ten eligible children residing in a district locality, as determined by Bus Éireann, who have applied and paid or entered their medical card details are required before consideration may be given to the establishment or retention of school transport services, provided this can be done within reasonable cost limits. Eligible children who complete the application process and pay or enter their medical card details on time will get a seat on a bus service if such a service is available. Children who are not eligible for school transport but who complete the application and pay or enter their medical card details on time will be considered for any spare seats. These are known as concessionary seats.

In the few minutes I have available to me, I will just say this. From the school of dear experience, I know that we should encourage people to make applications. I have been following this in my own local area since being appointed to this role. Even if there is no service available, we should encourage people to make an application. If that threshold of ten pupils is then met, we are obliged to put a service in place. We can then see what type of service to put in place. It is very important that applications are made. The challenge we have is that applications for this year concluded last Friday. Over the next three weeks, we will be correlating the information and figures to determine how to roll out the system over the next two months, by the last week of August. There is a lot of work going on between the Department and Bus Éireann. We have had regular meetings. We had a briefing in the audiovisual room a number of weeks ago that was very well attended by Members of the Houses from across the parties and their teams. This service is very important for all families and students around the country. I will just say that in this instance. I might reply further in my final statement.

Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for his response. Regarding this instance, prior to the closing date last Friday, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, stated that there would not be a school service provided. The issue is that Bus Éireann has advised that these children are not attending their nearest post-primary school. We know they are not but that is because there are no places. It further advises that there is no existing service so concessionary places cannot be applied for. Some 12 children from one particular estate in Kildare town are going to the Curragh. I would really appreciate it if the Minister of State would take a personal interest in this and try to help resolve the problem. We are aware that Bus Éireann has provided temporary transport measures to other schools under the school transport scheme. This is not always going to be the case because we will have the new school up and running. There will be issues regarding transport to that particular school, particularly from Newbridge, but we need a temporary transport scheme to be put in place at this point in time.

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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We are currently looking at all the information we got by the end of April and the information regarding payment and where we will need to put on buses that we got by last Friday. That work between the Department and Bus Éireann is proceeding at pace because we need to get it done in the next three weeks. We will be talking about it.

I will endeavour to work with the Senator to try to find a resolution to the specific issue she has asked me about. Her points are well made. We will go back under the bonnet to see what the issues with it are. We will work on the figures we have. It will be a number of weeks before everything is in place but we will work to find a satisfactory solution to the challenges and issues the Senator has found. If she liaises with me and my team over the coming weeks, we will work with her to find a solution. If we can find one, we will be very much to the fore in trying to bring it to fruition.