I regard the introduction of the school transport system as probably the most radical and revolutionary move taken by any Minister for Education. The late Donogh O'Malley took this step to enable children to get to school. It fundamentally opened access to education for children throughout Ireland and we in Fianna Fáil are extremely proud of this decision.
All Deputies have problems with the school transport system, as is evidenced by the number of parliamentary questions I receive on individual cases, but we forget that by and large it has been a successful scheme in that it has achieved its fundamental purpose. People have problems with it but it has fundamentally been a success. Modern developments will necessitate a review, however.
The problem is that the outgoing Administration produced the report which we then published. My difficulty in being categoric in what I say is that I do not like to rubbish a particular group's deliberations. There is value in teasing out those deliberations with all the partners in education. However, the policy is as it is now and not as it is in the report. My colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy O'Dea, has disseminated the report among the partners and is waiting for feedback and to have discussions with them.
To be frank, I am surprised by the scale of the proposals and I have great difficulty with all of them. It is extraordinary to propose that medical card holders should have to pay for the service. However, the report has been published and people will have to come back to us on it.