Paul McGrath (Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Question 550: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the person who has responsibility for school bus transport schedules, noting the concern for the safety of pupils attending school on school bus transport, where in some instances primary school children are currently arriving at school up to 45 minutes before school start time and the same students may have to wait up to 30 minutes after school finish time to be collected by the school bus; and the person with whom the final decision rests in relation to the scheduling of this school bus service. [4867/07]

Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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Bus Éireann operates the school transport service on behalf of my Department. Over 134,000 children are carried each day on school transport to primary and post-primary schools. It is a major logistical operation which involves the planning of bus routes in such a way as to ensure that, as far as possible, eligible pupils have a reasonable level of service while, at the same time, ensuring that school transport vehicles are fully utilised in an efficient and effective manner.

In general, at primary school level, school transport services are organised to ensure the maximum travel and waiting time does not exceed 1.5 hours. Bus Éireann place special emphasis on safety and, to this end, have a wide range of checking procedures in place to ensure that a safe and reliable service is provided.