Seanad Éireann debate -
Thursday, 20 Mar 1997

Vol. 150 No. 12

Adjournment Matters. - Dysart School Transport.

Mr. Finneran

I ask the Minister for Education to honour an agreement between the people of Dysart and her Department to provide transport for post-primary pupils, particularly to Athlone. This agreement was reached in the late 1960s because of a decision not to build a post-primary school at Dysart and it was to provide transport to Athlone, Ballinasloe, Roscommon and Ballygar.

In recent weeks the Department of Education indicated through Westmeath vocational education committee that it no longer intends to implement that agreement and that the arrangements will discontinue from the start of the 1998 academic year. It came as a major shock to the people in that area that an arrangement they had for years was going to be ended.

I attended a public meeting in the community and sport centre in Dysart some weeks ago where a large number of parents expressed their total opposition to the move. Many people from the community felt that, while it may not be of direct concern to them now, it could be their problem in the future. There is great anger regarding the proposal to remove a service that was agreed many years ago.

It is extraordinary that this proposal should be made now, because on 27 May 1996 a representative from the Department of Education wrote to the principal of St. Mary's school in Ballygar confirming the existence of the agreement and indicating that pupils from the Dysart area "were allowed transport to the neighbouring centres of Athlone, Ballinasloe, Ballygar and Roscommon". There is no reference on file that only pupils attending Athlone community college would be picked up in Dysart. This effectively means that if students wished to go to the other towns they would be entitled to do so, but they have opted for Athlone because of the extensive range of schools available there.

I ask the Minister for Education to honour the agreement between the people in Dysart and the Department of Education which dates from 1968. There is a full record of this agreement in the Department; I have written confirmation of it in a letter of May 1996. I hope the Minister can tell the people that the arrangement will be honoured and will continue to be implemented.

When questioned Westmeath vocational education committee, effectively the transport authority, said they understood that there might be some encroachment of the catchment area of St. Mary's in Ballygar. That would be nothing new to the people of Dysart because that was in place 27 years before. We do not understand why it arises now.

It is a matter of great public concern. Forty three families were represented at the meeting I attended in Dysart. The Minister can understand how upset these people and the hundreds of other families who have sent their children to schools in Athlone under a fully recognised agreement are at the new proposal. I hope the Minister will confirm to the House that the agreement between the people of Dysart, their public representatives and the Department will continue. It has been fully availed of by the people of Dysart. The arrangement could be questioned if it was only used on an ad hoc basis and did not receive the full support of the community. However, the transport arrangement has been used to its full extent.

Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Energy and Communications (Mr. Stagg)

I thank Senator Finneran for raising this matter. It gives me an opportunity to outline the position in relation to school transport for post-primary pupils from Dysart, County Roscommon. I understand that Dysart is in the Ballygar catchment area and that the pupils in question are attending schools in the Athlone catchment area.

By way of general comment, I should explain some basic facts about the school transport scheme. Bus Éireann, as agents of the Department of Education, has a responsibility to ensure the safe delivery of approximately 160,000 primary and post-primary pupils to schools throughout the country. The Department has responsibility to ensure that the State gets the best value for the money spent on this service. It does not come cheaply. In 1996 the net cost to the State was £40 million.

One of the main objects of the schools transport scheme is to provide a basic level of service for children who live long distances from schools and who might otherwise experience difficulty in attending regularly. For the purpose 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 live are eligible for transport under the school transport scheme to that centre.

At all times, it is the prerogative of parents to send their children to the school of their choice. However, it is not the object of the school transport scheme to facilitate parents in exercising that choice. In such instances, 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 being attended. This is subject to there being accommodation available on the existing service and provided that no additional State cost is incurred. Pupils availing of this concession are known as catchment boundary pupils.

The Department of Education may not sanction an extension of a service into any adjoining catchment area as an encroachment would constitute an infringement of the terms of the post-primary transport scheme. In such circumstances, the school authorities in that area would be quite entitled to seek restraint. Schools are sensitive to the loss of pupils from their area and the consequent loss of teaching posts.

The case referred to by the Senator is that pupils from the Dysart area live in the Ballygar post-primary centre catchment area. The most they may be granted in respect of attendance at adjoining post-primary centres is catchment boundary transport subject to the normal conditions of the transport scheme. The arrangement referred to by the Senator whereby pupils from the Dysart area are transported from the Ballygar catchment area arose from an application for a new school in Dysart which was refused by the Department of Education in 1967. The children of the Dysart area were then allowed transport to Athlone, Ballinasloe, Ballygar and Roscommon post-primary centres.

In November 1968, an extension of the service to Athlone post-primary centre was granted. The service in question was extended from Cam Cross, which is within the Athlone catchment area to Thomas Street in the Ballygar catchment area. This extension was allowed to facilitate a small number of families at a time when the Dysart school had been refused and post-primary facilities in the Ballygar catchment area were not considered to be fully adequate.

The Ballygar school authority has complained to the Department of Education and to the transport liaison officer for County Westmeath about the continued encroachment of the Athlone service into the Ballygar catchment area. They want this encroachment to cease under the terms of the school transport scheme.

St Mary's College, Ballygar is now a fully developed post-primary centre with a full curriculum available to junior and senior cycle pupils. The basis for the previous arrangement whereby pupils from the Dysart area were allowed transport from within the Ballygar catchment area no longer exists. The anomaly which has existed in this area in respect of an encroachment of a transport service from one catchment area to an adjoining one is now being addressed by the transport liaison officer for County Westmeath with the support of the Department. Accordingly, from 1 September 1998, pupils from the Dysart area who wish to avail of transport facilities to post-primary schools in Athlone may be facilitated from the nearest pick-up point inside the Athlone catchment area. The availability of such transport will be subject to the normal conditions of the transport scheme.

I have listened carefully to the case made by Senator Finneran. On the basis of what he has said, there is a valuable case for continuing this service. I will bring the details of what he has said to the attention of the Minister and I will ask her to re-examine the decision that has been made by her Department. St. Mary's School, Ballygar has not suffered arising from the transport of children to the Athlone schools. It has, in fact, thrived in the interim. I will refer back to the Senator at a later date.

Mr. Finneran

I welcome the Minister's response which, to some extent, is in conflict with the official line from the Department of Education. He has obviously considered the case from a public and personal point of view and I am very pleased about that. Hopefully, the Minister for Education will sanction the continuation of the arrangement which was in place for 30 years. It would be unfortunate if the service was withdrawn.