asked the Minister for Education if his attention has been drawn to the dissatisfaction among parents of children in County Donegal concerning the unsatisfactory school transport system which discriminates against children living in rural areas, in particular those living less than two and three miles from school and the steps he proposes to take to provide a school transport service which will eliminate this discrimination.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - School Transport.
6.
I did not understand how it could be stated that the school transport system discriminates against children living in rural areas. Accordingly, the question of eliminating discrimination does not, in my view, arise. Prescribed age and distance conditions of eligibility for free school transport and for the provision of services as required are fundamental to any scheme of transport and do not constitute discrimination.
Is the Minister aware that I received a letter yesterday from CIE? The information contained in it was that there was one seat left on the bus and would the mother of the two children concerned indicate which child she would prefer to have collected. Does the Minister not consider that that is discrimination? Does the Minister not consider that, in the case of a child over ten years old and under three miles from the school who cannot travel on the bus where other members of the family and neighbours' children can do so that is discrimination? What word does the Minister use?
The Deputy has not convinced me as to the base for his case. He referred specifically to a situation that arose yesterday. Obviously the Deputy had some other information when he tabled the question some time ago. What I am indicating to the House and to the Deputy is that there is no discrimination against rural children as the question alleges but rather it is discrimination in favour of children in rural Ireland, may be against children in urban Ireland.
The question does not relate to the children who have school transport at the moment so the question of discriminating in favour of them does not arise. I am concerned about the children who are living just inside the distance for qualifying and, in some cases, are just over the age limit, who are not getting school transport and are therefore being discriminated against. There is no other word in the English dictionary to cover such a situation.
The Deputy is entirely wrong. Any child who is eligible for transport gets it.
I am talking about the ones who are not eligible. The Minister's regulations discriminate against them in a very vicious way. I want further to ask the Minister is he prepared at this late stage to change the entire regulations relating to school transport to allow school boards to overcome their own difficulties about which they know far more than the Minister or his Department? If 30 Fianna Fáil TDs were to present a mandamus to the Minister as they did on the general subject of school transport, and publicly defy the Minister, perhaps they would get somewhere.
The Deputy knows as little about boards of management and their desire to take over the transport scheme as he does about the regulations governing them. Boards of management do not want to administer this scheme.
What I am saying is, with respect to the Minister for whom I have great respect, the regulations governing school transport discriminate against children in rural areas in a very blatant way and would not be tolerated in any other society. If Fianna Fáil Party members took their courage into their hands, as they did when they defied the Minister so that he changed regulations, maybe we might get somewhere on this. Why is there so much silence in the back benches of Fianna Fáil? The entire back bench defied the Minister.
The Deputy should approach Question Time in the manner in which it is supposed to be approached, to elicit information and not as a continuous acrimonious wrangle.
Why did the Minister reverse the position and why did he go to Cork to announce it?
This is a separate question. Question No. 7 is for written reply.