Vol. 507 No. 2
260 Mr. Belton asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will arrange sufficient transport for students to Moyne community school from the Ballinalee area in view of the anxiety among parents of students in that area. [16359/99]
For the purposes of the post-primary education scheme, the country has been divided into catchment areas, each of which has its own post-primary centre. Recognised post-primary pupils who live at least three miles from the post-primary centre of the catchment area in which they reside, are eligible for transport to that centre.
Under the scheme, eligible pupils who wish to attend a post-primary centre other than their appropriate one may be allowed transport from within the catchment boundary of the centre attended, subject to spare accommodation being available on the service and provided that no additional State cost is incurred.
The pupils from the Ballinalee area are not attending their nearest post-primary school and therefore they qualify only for catchment boundary transport to Moyne community school subject to availability of spare accommodation on the bus. Unfortunately there is no spare capacity on this service at present.
In the circumstances, I regret that it is not open to my Department to provide additional seating to facilitate these catchment boundary pupils.
