asked the Minister for Education if he has during the summer months examined the free school transport scheme with a view to having the anomalies removed from it; and, if so, if he will now state to what extent it is proposed to improve this scheme.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Free School Transport Scheme.
35.
I feel that the provisions relating to school transport are straightforward and I do not agree that they give rise to anomalies or call for improvement.
Does the Parliamentary Secretary still believe that the situation is satisfactory when children aged ten years and one week have to walk to school on wet wintry mornings while half-empty buses pass them going to the same school and in some cases carrying younger brothers and sisters? Does the Parliamentary Secretary believe this is an anomaly or would he define what constitutes an anomaly?
If the Deputy wants me to define anomaly I will do so. It is anything which breaks a regulation as such; it is something which is not in accord with the regulation. The Deputy will appreciate that with the cost of the transport scheme one would have to have regulations. With reference to the concern which the Deputy obviously has for the children, I should state that if there is room on the buses there is provision for the children to be carried as fare-paying passengers even though they do not comply with the regulations. I do not think the Deputy should suggest that is an anomaly. It is anything but an anomaly.
I do not want to make an untrue statement. Is it not true that all over the country young children are being passed on the roads by half-empty buses?
Of course it is happening. Young children are passed because of the age and distance regulation. I am not suggesting it is not happening.
I suggest that the regulations should be changed.
Can the Parliamentary Secretary say whether there has been a tightening up of the regulations this session and whether the money being collected from the fare-paying passengers in the school buses goes to the Department of Education or as a bonus to CIE?
There has been no question of tightening up of the regulations. I would like to assure all the Deputies that where there is room on the buses my Department are anxious to provide facilities on a fare-paying basis.
What is the difficulty about having an absolutely free transport system for those in the rural areas?
Cost. It is considerable already.
Are CIE collecting the extra money and using it for their own purposes? Of course they are because the Minister told me so in a letter.
36.
andMr. O'Higgins asked the Minister for Education if school transport will be provided for the ten eligible post-primary school pupils of the Kilternan area who are attending Saint Laurence's College, Loughlinstown, County Dublin.
There could be no question of providing, particularly in the Dublin Metropolitan area, a special bus service for seven pupils which is the number involved in the case referred to by the Deputies. The most that could be done would be to make free transport available for the pupils concerned in the scheduled service to Dundrum where there is a vocational school which provides a suitable course of post-primary education.
The number, in fact, is ten. I can send the list of the pupils to the Parliamentary Secretary. Will he review the case in view of the fact that the number is now ten?
The information available to me at the moment is that the number is seven. If it has risen to ten I will be glad to get the details from the Deputy.
37.
asked the Minister for Education if he is aware that many school children in Mayo are obliged to walk long distances to schools while there are lots of space to accommodate them on school buses; and what steps he proposes to take to remedy this situation.
Free transport is provided for pupils under ten years of age who reside two miles or over from the nearest primary school and for pupils over ten years of age who reside three miles or over from the nearest primary or post-primary schools.
School bus routes and loadings are arranged to make the maximum possible use of the vehicles available. For this reason most buses are loaded to full capacity at the end of each trip.
Where pupils are ineligible for free transport because they live less than the required distance from the nearest school, my Department has authorised CIE to use spare capacity to carry such pupils as fare-paying passengers to that school.
38.
asked the Minister for Education if he has been requested to provide free school transport to Kilclonfert national school, Daingean, County Offaly, by the parents and the school manager, in this area; why it has not been provided to date; and when he proposes to provide free school transport to Kilclonfert national school.
There are two localities involved, one north of the school, the other south of it. An investigation which was carried out disclosed that there were not sufficient eligible children in either locality to enable the conditions relating to the provision of a transport service to be fulfilled.
However, fully up-to-date information in relation to the number of eligible children is again being sought. When this has been obtained the matter will be reconsidered.