Vol. 443 No. 9
70 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Education the plans, if any, she has to grant a free travel pass to children with special needs who have to travel out of their own area to avail of special education; and if she will have this travel pass extended to allow for a companion to travel with such children in view of the fact that this does not happen at present and anybody travelling with such children has to pay for any travel expenses incurred.
My Department provides transport facilities for children with special needs to attend their nearest special school or special class, where this can be done within reasonable cost limits. Where suitable arrangements cannot be made, a transport grant is payable towards the cost of providing transport. The return transport cost of persons accompanying visually impaired children attending the special schools for visually impaired in Dublin on up to seven occasions during the year is also funded by my Department.
As the Deputy may be aware, I announced in the 1994 education budget that I would be allocating the sum of £100,000 to support the provision of escorts on certain school transport services for children with disability. My Department is working out the practical details of this proposal at the present time.
