When I previously raised this matter on the Adjournment on 15 June last year, the proposals for the pilot projects which were to be carried out in Sligo, Clare, Laois and Cavan were very prevalent at that time. I would like to correct a point in the Minister's response to me and I quote from her speech: the Official Report, column 648, Volume 120:
I might mention that over 60 per cent of the school transport services already being provided are being provided by private contractors.
In fact, the figure is 40 per cent; 60 per cent are provided by CIE.
Prior to my raising that matter here, the Minister had met a high level delegation from the Irish Congress of Trade Unions who were very much opposed to the pilot projects proposed at the time. Indeed, the major teacher unions were so concerned about the matter that they also attended, and by attending they were stating their admiration for the excellent way in which CIE were conducting the scheme. The Minister for Labour was also present. The reason the Minister for Labour was at the meeting was that Congress were saying that the 96 redundancy notices which had been issued to part-time drivers in the four countries were in contravention of the terms of the Programme for National Recovery. The Minister for Education gave an undertaking at that meeting to respond to Congress in writing. I understand that this has not happened, but that she did make contact with Congress by phone.
I would like clarification on what the Minister said recently at a meeting held with PAMBO, that is the private bus operators' organisation, as to whether the business of the privatisation of school transport has become redundant or whether this is something that is still under active consideration with the Department.
In July 1988, the Minister announced that the pilot privatisation projects in the four countries were not going ahead but in January of last year she announced that £1.5 million would be taken from the school transport account and this happened in November. When the Book of Estimates for 1989 was produced in October of last year, it was announced that £5.7 million was being taken from the Estimate for school transport. This has caused a monumental problem. This figure was included, but the Minister has made no statement, nor as far as I know has she indicated to either Bus Éireann or to any other interested body how it is intended to effect this particular cutback. I would like again to quote from the Minister's speech of last June:
This function has been discharged efficiently by Córas Iompair Éireann, as it then was, and by Bus Éireann since the inception of the scheme in 1967-68. In the intervening 20 years generations of children have benefited from the scheme, many of whom would otherwise have had extreme difficulty in ever getting to a school or getting to it on a regular basis. Great care is exercised in all aspects of the operation and the expertise and the good work of the company is worthy of appreciation. I have constantly said in public that of first concern is the safety of children. All other factors come after that. In this respect Bus Éireann have a record unparalleled in Europe for safe transport of children.
How does this tie in with a cutback of £5.7 million on the £35.5 million estimate of Bus Éireann? Bus Éireann got to work on their problems and have in real terms reduced their costs by £3 million since 1986.
A further major problem, and I feel this is what gave rise to the Government's efforts to introduce pilot projects to privatise the bus scheme, is the business of replacing the bus fleet. As I pointed out on that occasion, the Minister for Education had referred to a figure of £80 million being required to replace the fleet; the Minister for Finance had spoken of a figure of £50 million; and Bus Éireann had put forward a figure of £20 million for new buses. Even taking the middle figure of £50 million, it would work out at an average of £100,000 per bus which is the price of a super coach.
The figures were way off-line, but the point I would like to stress here is that Bus Éireann, from their own resources, without any cost to the Exchequer, replaced 130 of the older Bedford school buses with 95 former service buses together with 35 secondhand buses purchased specially for school transport. The board of CIE has recently authorised the acquisition of an additional 32 secondhand buses for school transport purposes and, in addition, a further 20 service buses will be made available for school work during the course of 1989. This means that by next year Bus Éireann will have provided 182 replacement school buses without any extra cost to the Department. I believe that is a very significant streamlining of their operations on the capital side. They have streamlined their operations on the revenue side, on the running side, and indeed they have conveyed to the Minister's Department that they cannot possibly keep the service at 1988 levels with a further cutback of £5.7 million.
We can only speculate as to how the Department intend to effect this £5.7 million cutback. On one hand, the Department could introduce charges or increase present charges, something that the Labour Party would be totally opposed to and which we would find totally reprehensible. Too many of our children are emigrating and if this type of measure was introduced for the children who are left, I feel this House and the Oireachtas would be completely breaking faith with the children of our country.
Let me give you an idea of what is involved. Primary school children at present travel free if they are beyond the two-mile limit from the school. In the secondary sector children in the junior cycle pay £20 per term and children in the senior cycle pay £34 per term, although I should add that there is a maximum charge per family for school transport of £70 per term. If the charges were doubled at second level and if the £1 charge were introduced at primary school level, this figure would come out at just about the £5.7 million, which is what the Government have cut back from the Estimate of £35.5 million needed to run the service this year. I sincerely hope that it is not the intention of the Government to move down the road of introducing more charges for a service which is important to our children and which relates so much to their future potential employment prospects.
On the other hand, there could be a very serious cutback in services. One union representative has said that as many as 800 people could lose their jobs in the school transport service, and that 70,000 children could be severely handicapped in travelling to and from school and could be subjected to severe hardship. The major point here, of course, is that if 800 people were to become redundant this would be in contravention of the Programme for National Recovery, which states that there are to be no forced redundancies in the public service. Again I hope that this is not what the Government have in mind.
Basically what I find most offensive and most annoying is that since the Book of Estimates was introduced, and we are now through the budget, Bus Éireann still do not know their position. Bus Éireann start putting together their schedules for next year in April and are now in the position where a spokesman from the Minister's Department was quoted on "Morning Ireland" as saying that there would be no diminution of the school transport service in the present school year. The present school year ends on 30 June and my great concern as a public representative, as a former teacher and as someone very involved in and concerned about education is what is going to happen in September? Is it right and proper that this House, the Dáil, the parents, the children of this country, the teachers, people involved in school transport at this stage just do not know what is going to happen?
A figure of £5.7 million is being taken out of the allocation. There is absolutely no directive as to how this money should be found or whatever cost effective measures are proposed. Nothing has come from the Minister. In fact, the major union involved in school transport, the Irish Transport and General Workers Union, have in recent weeks made contact with the Taoiseach's office seeking an urgent meeting with him to discuss the whole matter. As yet that meeting has not taken place, but it is totally unfair, wrong and unjust that people involved in a service at this time just do not know what is going to happen.
Bus Éireann have effectively cut back their revenue costs and that is extremely difficult, because in a rural area many of the bus routes go to areas where you have barely more than the number to service. It is very difficult to get the service cost effective in these areas, but yet since 1986 Bus Éireann have succeeded in bringing down their costs by the figure of £3 million in real terms. Yet, last year £1.1 million was taken from their budget. They provided the service they were told to provide and there were no cutbacks in the service.
What is happening? What kind of planning is going on or is there any planning going on? My greatest concern is that there does not seem to be any plan in the Department as to the future of the school transport service. We are fast approaching the end of the school year and soon it will be April. What is going to happen in September? That is the question that the Minister, Deputy O'Rourke, must answer. She must tell us what is going to happen. How is this £5.7 million cutback going to be effected?
The purpose of my raising this matter tonight is to find out about privatisation of school transport. Are the pilot schemes over at this stage? Have they been totally withdrawn or do the Department intend going ahead with the pilot schemes in the four countries? I asked earlier to know what was said at that meeting with PAMBO regarding the privatisation of the school transport service.
Just to give an illustration of the effect I see this privatisation having, I will refer to my own area of Waterford. Waterford has a garage which services the school buses and the service buses and there are 33 people employed there. Thirty-nine ordinary buses and 76 school buses are serviced in that garage. If, for instance, a pilot scheme were introduced in Waterford it would be the end of the garage. It would also mean that the school transport office in Waterford would close, and this is against a background of regional management of CIE being effectively withdrawn from Waterford over the past number of years.
There are a number of people involved, for instance, as contractors to CIE as 40 per cent of the work is done by contractors. These people do not know what is going to happen next September. They have absolutely no idea and cannot plan ahead. The Department will not let us know what is going to happen. There is an 18 per cent cutback in the Bus Éireann Estimate for running the scheme and yet the Minister is refusing to tell any source what plans she has, if indeed she has any plans. Bus Éireann service 6,250 routes, they cater for the 9,000 children who attend special schools, some mentally handicapped, some physically handicapped and in all 168,000 school children are catered for by the school service. Parents will soon come to realise that there is no certainty about what is happening.
We are talking about an operation that is run most efficiently, in my view, by Bus Éireann. There are 15 district school transport offices operating throughout the country. A total staff of 1,107 are involved in the school transport scheme throughout the country. One point I would like to make is that charges at present bring in £3.7 million. That is the estimate for this year. On the other hand, 43 per cent of those using school transport are the children of medical cardholders and have free school transport. This is paid for by the Department. The Department would have to pay in any event whether it be Bus Éireann or a privatised service.
There are a number of questions that still remain unanswered. Have CIE agreed that the school transport scheme can be operated in 1989 on some £5.8 million less than was required in 1988? What was the basis used for arriving at this reduction in the level of funding for the school transport scheme? It must mean that there will be a major worsening of conditions, service and standards or a large increase in charges. Will there be a charge introduced for post-primary medical cardholders and for all categories of primary pupils and what will be the amount of these charges? I have dealt with this point earlier in my speech.
Let us clear the air on this matter. Is the proposal to privatise school transport? Is the proposal for the four pilot areas — Sligo, Laois, Cavan and Clare — as announced by the Minister in October 1987, redundant or is that still under active consideration in the Department? I have already asked what was conveyed to PAMBO? If Bus Éireann have to cut back on maintenance costs, for instance, would not this inevitably result in a worsening in the reliability of the school bus service? I will conclude on this point. Basically I am seeking clarification on behalf of pupils, parents, teachers and those involved in the school transport service. Go raibh míle maith agat.
