Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 11 May 1993

Vol. 430 No. 5

Adjournment Debate. - Clonkeen (Kerry) School Transport.

Mr. O'Leary

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House tonight to deal with this matter. Clonkeen national school is not destined to be closed or to lose a teacher in the foreseeable future. There are 32 pupils attending this two teacher school. Three children eligible for school transport will attend the school from September next. They could go to school now if the local community wanted to increase the numbers. Apart from them many other children will start school in September.

Three children have been deemed to be ineligible for school transport under very peculiar circumstances. According to CIE one child is .2 miles away from another school. Another child deemed ineligible is from a family from which five children went to Clonkeen national school and were eligible for free transport. Indeed, the child who has now been deemed ineligible by Bus Éireann had free transport on a medical card for a period of four years. Another child who will be ten on 18 June is qualified this term but has not been counted for the future. On the minimum number of seven, Clonkeen national school qualifies for free transport, but it is obvious that under a minimum number of ten the school will not be entitled to free school transport from September. The three new pupils could go to school at the moment if it would mean the restoration of school transport. At the moment ten families are paying £7 per week to a local bus operator to bring the children to school. The N22 national primary road is for three miles on either side of the school considered to be the most dangerous part of the road in County Kerry and the road is to be improved with the aid of EC Structural Funds. Parents are threatening to withdraw the children from school and would have done so except for the advice of elected representatives and Members of this House.

There are pertinent questions to be answered on the withdrawal of school transport. Why has Bus Éireann been measuring and remeasuring distances between houses and the school? Why was it necessary to remeasure the distance between the homes of certain pupils and two schools over a weekend? Why was such a determined effort made to take the school transport service from the children attending Clonkeen national school? Why is transport being taken from pupils whose older brothers and sisters got school transport to Clonkeen and why are they being told that they should attend another national school which is an equal distance away? I hope the Minister will clarify these matters and will as a last resort take the matter up on a personal basis with the Minister.

Minister of State at the Department of Education (Mr. Aylward)

I thank Deputy O'Leary for his ongoing contribution to this debate and for his unstinting efforts on behalf of the children and parents of Clonkeen national school.

One of my areas of responsibility is to ensure the safe delivery of about 169,000 primary and post-primary pupils throughout the country. I also have the responsibility of ensuring that the State gets the best possible value for the money it expends on the provision of this service. In the current year approximately £38 million will be spent on the provision of this service.

As agents of the Minister for Education, Bus Éireann operates the primary school transport scheme. That company assesses the eligibility of all children for school transport and organises the provision of school transport services for those who are eligible. My Department does not make detailed arrangements on the ground. Bus Éireann decide on the routes, set-down/pick-up points and the size of vehicles for all concerned, always bearing in mind the need for a cost-effective, efficient and safe service.

In order to be eligible for primary school transport, children between the ages of four and ten must live at least two miles from the nearest suitable national school, as determined by the Department, while older children must live at least three miles away. They must be attending that school and offering for transport.

In the organisation of school transport services all routes are planned in such a way as to ensure that as far as possible every eligible pupil has a reasonable standard of service from the point of view of timetable and distance from the route, while at the same time ensuring that all vehicles are fully utilised in the most efficient manner.

Under the rules of the primary school transport scheme there must be a sufficient number of children in a distinct locality attending their nearest suitable national school to ensure that the average daily number of eligible children conveyed each term is not less than ten in order to warrant the establishment, or retention, of a transport service to a national school. A transport service may also be established, if it can be done within reasonable cost limits, where at least five eligible children from a distinct locality reside at least three miles from the school.

The service to which the Deputy refers was established under the normal conditions of the primary school transport scheme. However, Bus Éireann informed my Department, as they are obliged to do, that during the Christmas and Easter terms the number had dropped to six. The chairperson of the board of management of Clonkeen national school was advised on 17 December 1992, and again on 23 March 1993, that the service would have to be withdrawn at the end of the Easter term. My Department would have been prepared to retain the service had the average number of eligible pupils risen sufficiently in the meantime to warrant its retention. Unfortunately, that did not happen.

In April, the chairperson sent to the Department a list of pupils whom he considered to be eligible. When the list was examined it was found that, out of the 12 listed, five are ineligible. Three of the five are closer to Glenflesk national school than to Clonkeen. The other two are equidistant from Glenflesk and Clonkeen, but in each case are under two miles away from the schools. A sixth child will be leaving school at the end of the current year. Of the remaining six, only two live over three miles from Clonkeen national school. I regret, therefore, that, under the terms of the scheme it is not open to the Department to restore the service to Clonkeen national school.

I have explored every avenue open to me to try to resolve this problem. If there is any change in the circumstances of the children attending Clonkeen national school, I will be prepared to have this case re-investigated.

An Ceann Comhairle

The matter raised by Deputy Jim Higgins has been postponed to tomorrow night's Adjournment.

The Dáil adjourned at 9 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 12 May 1993.