Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 23 May 1995

Vol. 453 No. 3

Adjournment Debate. - County Galway School Bus Service.

Mr. M. Kitt

I thank you, a Cheann Comhairle, for allowing me to raise this matter on the Adjournment and I thank the Minister of State for coming into the House this evening.

For some time I have been requesting an additional bus in the Lawrencetown/Clontuskert/Kiltormer area, which serves the Ballinasloe post-primary centre. I received a letter from the Minister of State on 11 May, for which I thank him, in which he stated:

In order to facilitate the operation of these services, children are often required to wait some time, both morning and evening, for their service. This is a feature of the school transport scheme as operated throughout the country.

I appreciate the sentiments expressed in the Minister's letter but if a second bus were in operation, which was the case in the past, students attending the Ballinasloe post-primary centre would have a better quality service. The letter goes on to state: "The routes are operated on a first in, first home basis and they rotate on a weekly basis". In fact, the routes do not rotate, but that is not the issue here. The parents, children and boards of management in the schools in question are asking for a reasonable service. They are not interested in a rotating service.

Previously an additional bus — a minibus — was available which served the Lawrencetown area. I will give an example of the present situation. There is one large bus. The children in the Kiltormer area are collected at 7.10 a.m. and are in school at 7.50 a.m. — that is very early. I have been informed by the parents that these children often eat their lunches before school begins; the bus does not arrive back at Lawrencetown until 5.40 p.m. This late arrival home often results in children being collected by their parents and, in many cases, children thumb a lift home, a most dangerous practice.

I understand a major study was to be undertaken by Bus Éireann to see if there was a need for a second bus which, hopefully, would be approved by the Department. There are approximately 58 children in the Lawrencetown area and 58 children in the Kiltormer area. With such a large number of children there is an urgent need for an additional bus.

It is fair to point out that the decision to have one large bus serving this area affects the students' choice of schools. In fact, they would have a much better service to Banagher in County Offaly, where there is also a second level school. It is obvious that the boards of management of the second level schools in Ballinasloe are concerned about this issue.

I hope the Minister of State can give me some indication of the Department's thinking in relation to this matter. Has the major study been carried out by Bus Éireann? Will we see the return of the minibus, which served this area, as well as the larger bus? I do not lay any blame on the bus driver, who has a difficult job trying to provide a service previously provided by two buses. I ask the Minister to take these points on board and to tell the House that an additional bus will be provided for this area.

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

I thank Deputy Kitt for raising this matter.

One of my areas of responsibility is to ensure the safe delivery of about 166,000 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 spends on the provision of this service on which, in the current year, approximately £39 million will be spent. This figure includes approximately £4 million which Bus Éireann receives in charges from those pupils liable for such charges.

The main policy aim of the school transport scheme is to facilitate equality of access to primary and post-primary education by providing transport to enable children, who might otherwise have difficulty in doing so, attend school regularly.

The post-primary transport scheme is organised, in the first instance, by the transport liaison officer, who is the chief executive officer of the vocational education committee of the county, in co-operation with the school authorities and Bus Éireann. My Department does not make detailed arrangements. This is the responsibility of the transport liaison officers in conjunction with Bus Éireann.

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.

In order to achieve this, individual vehicles are generally required to operate a number of services to both priamry and post-primary schools. This inevitably means that the timetable often requires some pupils to make an early start in the mornings and wait some time in the evenings. This is, and always has been a feature of the transport schemes throughout the country.

When establishing post-primary services, routes are planned in such a way as to ensure as far as possible that no pupil will have more than three hours travelling and waiting time daily and live no more than three miles from the route of service.

In planning routes, Bus Éireann generally operates a policy of first in, first home. The result is that the waiting and travelling times are shared almost evenly between the two groups of children.

The position in this case is that the service to Ballinasloe post-primary centre was operated by a contractor's vehicle and a Bus Éireann vehicle until June 1994. As a result of a routine reorganisation of services, it was found that Bus Éireann was in a position to operate both the primary and post-primary runs. The contractor's vehicle was no longer required and the service has been operated solely by the Bus Éireann vehicle since September 1994.

A rotating service is now in operation to this post-primary centre. This involves the rotation of Bus Éireann routes 230 and 231, which cater for children from several areas, including those travelling from Lawrencetown and Kiltomer to Ballinasloe. The post-primary service is also dependent upon the completion of an afternoon primary school run by the same vehicle. In this way, maximum utilisation of the vehicle is ensured, together with the earliest possible set-down time for younger primary pupils. The rotation of the service means that the post-primary pupils who have an earlier collection time on week one of the rotation have a later collection time on week two, and vice versa. There is a similar arrangement in the evenings.

I understand that Bus Éireann met a deputation from the Kiltormer/ Clontuskert/Lawrencetown Parents Action Committee on 30 September last. When the committee was offered the rotation of routes 230 and 231, which is currently in operation, it considered it unacceptable.

However, the current travelling and waiting times for these pupils are well within the Department's guidelines. They are availing of a reasonable level of service in the context of the general operation of the scheme.

It is not open to the Department to sanction the provision of an extra bus to cater for the children in the Lawrencetown and Kiltomer areas as they already enjoy a reasonable level of service, and the cost of providing a second bus would be prohibitive.

In the circumstances, the present arrangement is considered adequate, and is the most that can be offered.