Vol. 532 No. 4
605 Mr. McGuinness asked the Minister for Education and Science the present arrangement for a school bus service to Owning school, County Kilkenny; the amount of money parents have to pay for each child on the bus; if all 31 children are paying this sum; if a grant is available to cover this cost; if this service will improve following the recent announcement by the Minister of State; and if the fees will be dropped. [7530/01]
I understand that the children in question are currently availing of a private bus. The position generally is that a minimum of seven eligible children is required to establish a primary school transport service under the school transport scheme. In order to be eligible children must live at least two miles from and be attending their nearest appropriate school. If there are at least seven eligible children offering for transport the names, addresses and dates of birth of all the eligible pupils should be submitted to the school transport section of my Department for consideration.
