Vol. 437 No. 1
119 Mr. J. Higgins asked the Minister for Education the number of distinct localities which were receiving primary school transport at some stage since the initiation of the school transport service but for which transport was terminated because the minimum number of persons eligible were not present in order to warrant retention of the transport service; and the number of such instances in the counties of Mayo, Galway, Roscommon, Sligo and Leitrim.
One of my areas of responsibility is the transportation of about 165,000 pupils, to and from school daily, throughout the country. In doing so, I must also ensure that the State gets the best possible value for the money it expends on the provision of this service. To this end, an economy of scale is applied whereby a service to a national school must have a minimum number of eligible children offering for service from a distinct locality.
Services are monitored and may be withdrawn, after timely notice, where numbers of eligible pupils fall below the minimum number required to sustain a service. Where services are withdrawn, eligible pupils may be offered a grant towards the cost of private transport arrangements.
I am not in a position to answer the Deputy's specific question regarding numbers, since my Department does not compile, as a matter of course, statistics of this nature. It would not be considered appropriate or efficient to do so.
