Written answers
Tuesday, 16 July 2013
Department of Education and Skills
School Transport Provision
Brian Walsh (Galway West, Independent)
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309. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the profit or loss incurred by Bus Éireann in respect of the provision of the school transport scheme each year since 2004. [34427/13]
Brian Walsh (Galway West, Independent)
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310. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if Bus Éireann's profit and loss accounts in respect of the school transport scheme will be made available for each year since 2004. [34428/13]
Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 309 and 310 together.
Bus Éireann, which operates school transport services on behalf of my Department, maintains a separate account for the School Transport Scheme. This account is audited each year by independent auditors and accounts in respect of the last number of years are available on my Department's website.
Tim Doyle
Posted on 18 Sep 2013 10:39 am (Report this comment)
Bus Eireann do not publish their profit and loss accounts for school transport on their website and the Department of Education do not publish them either. At best his answer is misleading. Mr Cannon has been asked many times to disclose the profits in school transport for Bus Eireann but has failed.Its a simple request but he wont answer it. At a meeting in 2011 Cannon was told by the Managing Director of Bus Eireann about "surplus....acounts" controlled by Bus Eireann holding "€2-3m". Expressway had a shortfall "which was addressed via the fund". Mr Cannons Department admitted to PAC that they had NEVER seen the profit and loss accounts for School Transport. At the Public Accounts Committee in Feb 2013 Tom O Mahony who runs the Department of Transport admitted profits can be made by Bus Eireann in School Transport. The profits in School Transport for Bus Eireann are estimated to be over €20 million per year. This money is used to fund the hugely loss making Expressway. Minister Cannon has purposefully misled the Deputy, the Oireachtas and the Public and the consequences of this is the waste of tens of millions per year by his Department and Bus Eireann. This behaviour is disgraceful. Whats the point in PQ's if they are answered in this way? Nothing short of abuse!
Tim Doyle
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