Deputy Bernard Durkan gave me notice of his attention to raise the matter of the need to restore free transport facilities to a person (details supplied) in County Kildare who was attending a special school until recently. Deputy Durkan has five minutes to present his case and the Minister of State has five minutes to reply.
Adjournment Debate. - School Transport for Kildare Student.
I thank you, Sir, for the opportunity to have this matter aired in the House. It is sufficiently important to warrant consideration by the House. It refers to a young man who up to now has attended a special school, Scoil Mochua in Clondalkin. Because of his disability he has availed of special transport which has been provided. However, due to changes in administration, that transport is no longer available. His parents are now faced with a situation where he has to stay at home for the remainder of the school year. I know the Minister of State opposite and the Minister would not want that to happen and certainly I would not want it to happen. In a caring and compassionate society a person suffering from a disability should not be discommoded to the extent that he or she cannot attend the school of his or her choice, particularly when we all, rightly, place such emphasis on the need to provide facilties for such people
However, the Minister has conceded to some extent by offering a grant of £500 plus to help defray the costs if the parents or the parents council could do something further. The Eastern Health Board has very kindly offered a grant of £800 plus to assist in the matter, but the actual costs involved are in the region of £2,700, a long way short of what is required.
While the Department of Education has made a welcome gesture, for which we are thankful, and the Department of Health, through the Eastern Health Board, has made its contribution for which we are equally grateful, I would ask the Minister, in view of the serious deprivation likely to be suffered by the individual concerned and given the need to ensure that all children within reason are treated equally, if he can award something more substantial towards the total cost and the parents council may then be in a position to help further.
I am aware of the case referred to by Deputy Durkan. The Department is actively engaged in seeking a solution which will meet the special needs of this case. The student in question is 18 years old and suffers from cerebral palsy. He has attended Scoil Mochua Special School in Clondalkin, County Dublin, since 1981 and has availed of the special transport service to that school. However, he has now grown to a point where he is too heavy to be lifted on or off the bus. Both the school authorities and Bus Éireann have confirmed this fact.
In line with standard procedure in such circumstances, the boy's parents were offered a grant of £520 to assist towards the cost of school transport arrangements. This is the maximum allowable within the scope of the school transport scheme. If we were to breach that amount special permission would have to be obtained from the Department of Finance.
More recently, the authorities in Scoil Mochua have indicated that the £520 grant being offered is viewed as inadequate by the boy's parents and unfortunately the boy has not attended school for some time. It is understood that the boy's parents are seeking funding for a daily taxi service to bring the boy to and from school. The possibility of making such provision is currently being investigated by the Department in co-operation with the Eastern Health Board.
As the Deputy may be aware, the vehicles engaged on school transport are standard commercial type vehicles which are used on other work outside school transport periods. This has ensured that the cost of school transport operations is kept at a reasonable level. Bus Éireann accepts that problems do arise from time to time in catering for pupils with a severe physical handicap. However, the company assures my Department that all concerned are fully aware of the needs of pupils with disabilities and every effort is made to clear for particular requirements within available resources.
The matter of purpose built vehicles with hoists, clamps, harnesses, etc. has been considered in the past but has not been pursued because of the very high cost and limited usage which would be involved. Bus Éireann have pointed out that they have been able to cope over the years with the needs of pupils with disabilities through arrangements made at local level and that this has been due in no small measure to the co-operation and goodwill of all concerned.
In the current year, approximately £38 million will be spent on the provision of school transport services. Of this amount, approximately 20 per cent will be spent on services for pupils with a disability. This is a considerable commitment, given that such pupils constitute only 2 per cent approximately of the school-going population. The issue of school transport for children with disabilities and the range of services and equipment required in that context were among the matters which were considered in detail by the Special Education Review Committee. The Minister for Education has just received the committee's report and will give early consideration to its recommendations.
Let me assure the Deputy that every effort will be made in co-operation with the health board and other bodies to find a satisfactory solution as quickly as possible to this case.