Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)
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Question 1204: To ask the Minister for Education and Science his proposals to provide a 45-seater school bus from the Dunmore East area of County Waterford to enable 10 children to attend secondary schools (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33555/09]

Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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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.

A service may be established where a sufficient number of eligible pupils, within an area, apply for transport to the post-primary centre of the catchment area in which they live.

In a case where there are not enough eligible pupils residing in an area to warrant the establishment of a service, a transport grant may be paid by the Department to the parent/guardian of the eligible pupils concerned.

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 local post-primary centre have been catered for and no additional state cost is incurred. Such children have to make their own way to the nearest pick up point within that catchment area.

In general, catchment boundary tickets are issued on a first come, first served basis.

The Transport Liaison Officer for Waterford has advised that the pupils in question reside in the Tramore catchment area and therefore may only apply for catchment boundary school transport to Waterford City Post-Primary Centre subject to terms of the scheme. As the present services are operating to capacity, it would not be appropriate to provide additional seats to accommodate catchment boundary pupils.