Breeda Moynihan-Cronin (Kerry South, Labour)
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Question 212: To ask the Minister for Education and Science when a decision will issue from her Department in respect of an application for the extension of the school bus service to an area (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37345/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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As I advised the Deputy in response to a parliamentary question, reference No. 32540/05, of 8 November 2005, my Department has recently conveyed its decision in this case to the relevant transport liaison officer. Under the terms of the post-primary school transport scheme, routes are planned so that, in general, no pupil will have more than 3.2 kilometres to travel to a pick-up point. Furthermore, where eligible pupils attend a school at a centre other than the post-primary centre which caters for the catchment area in which they live, they may be allowed the concession of transport from the catchment boundary of the centre attended, provided there are seats for them on a bus serving that centre.

Having considered the distances involved to the pick-up point for the children involved, and the fact that some of the children are living outside of the catchment area concerned, my Department is satisfied that a re-routing of the bus service could not be justified in this case.