Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 348: To ask the Minister for Education and Science further to parliamentary Question No. 473 of 2 December 2008, if he will confirm that eligibility is determined by the nearest school able to cater for the pupil not through an exemption to the distance criteria where a pupil has a diagnosed physical disability; if he will explain the way this differs from the case in question; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47289/08]

Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I have already informed the Deputy that the distance criteria does not apply to pupils with a diagnosed disability and/or special educational need. These pupils are eligible for transport to the nearest recognised: mainstream school, special class/ special school or a unit, that is or can be resourced, to meet the child's special educational needs under Department of Education and Science criteria.

If the Deputy considers that the pupil in question has such a disability, then the parent should be advised to consult with the local Special Education Needs Organiser regarding the allocation of resources to the appropriate school. The question of school transport can then be considered having regard to the terms of the scheme.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Question 349: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if a child who wishes to be taught through the medium of English but who resides within the Gaeltacht is entitled to school transport to the nearest available English medium school; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47290/08]

Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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Under the terms of my Department's Primary School Transport Scheme, pupils who reside 3.2 kilometres or more from, and are attending, their nearest suitable national school as determined by my Department, are eligible for free school transport. Under the terms of my Department's Post Primary School Transport Scheme, a pupil is eligible for transport if s/he resides 4.8 kilometres or more from her/his local post primary education centre, that is, the centre serving the catchment area in which s/he lives.

The scheme is not designed to facilitate parents who choose to send their children to a post-primary centre outside of the catchment area in which they reside. However, children who are fully eligible for transport to the post-primary centre in the catchment area in which they reside may apply for transport on a concessionary basis to a post-primary centre outside of their own catchment area, otherwise known as catchment boundary transport. These children can only be facilitated if spare seats are available on the bus after all other eligible children travelling to their 'own' post-primary centre have been catered for. Such children have to make their own way to the nearest pick up point within that catchment area.

The scheme also provides that pupils who wish to obtain post-primary education entirely through Irish are eligible for transport to the nearest centre in which there is a secondary, vocational, comprehensive or community school providing such education, if they live 4.8 kilometres or more from the centre. There is no provision, in the scheme, to provide a special school transport service for pupils living in a Gaeltacht catchment area, who have enrolled in a school outside of their own catchment area which is teaching through the medium of English. Exceptions are made in certain cases, for example, for children who have an exemption from Irish. The Deputy may also be aware that there are matters of relevance to the availability of teaching through the medium of English for children in the Gaeltacht before the courts at present which are to be the subject of a mediation.