Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit go dtí an Teach. The issue of the school bus for the school on the Quivvy Road in Belturbet, County Cavan, is one that could be resolved as a consequence of this debate. It could be resolved without cost to the Exchequer and bring a favourable result to the parents and children of the area.
Twelve children eligible for school transport live on the Quivvy Road. They deserve and need a bus to pick them up on that road. The children have been requested to go to a central pick-up point at the end of the road. The distance from home to the pick-up point is two miles for some children and three to four miles for others. Therefore, it would be as logical for the parents to take the children straight to school as to the pick-up point.
The pick-up point is not physically safe for the children. They would have to cross the busy Clones-Belturbet road to the far side of the junction to get the bus and would have to stand where there is no bus shelter or infrastructure. It is a health and safety risk to require 12 children to stand at such a point. Visibility is not good at the junction and it is unsafe to have cars and children congregating at the pick-up point.
The Quivvy Road is negotiable, but perhaps the Minister of State has been told otherwise. There is a marina at the end of the road and cars towing boats negotiate the road. Lorries also drive on the road. A number of houses have been constructed on the road and the cement lorries have driven in and out. There are also a number of lay-bys on the road. Therefore, a bus could easily negotiate the road and other traffic could pass the bus. Up to a few years ago there was a school bus on the road.
Another issue is that many of the families on the road only have one car and the owner may very well leave home early to drive to work in other towns. One mother on the road has a child-minding service and minds other children as well as her own. She can hardly leave those children alone while she goes off to take her child to school. Many of the families have preschool children which makes it difficult for them to take other children to the pick-up point and in some families both parents may be working. There is already traffic congestion at the school and there is no logic in adding to that.
The more the Minister hears about the situation, the greater the need, he will realise, to revise the file. The information he has received may be wrong. The situation is nonsensical. It is unsafe to walk or cycle on the road because of the volume of traffic, including lorries and cars pulling boats. It is unsafe for children to walk or cycle to the pick-up point. If a parent was to take children to the pick-up point, it would more logical to take them to the school.
There is a new road off the Quivvy Road on which a family called the Tanners live. This road too is negotiable by buses and lorries. This family lives quite far from both the pick-up point and the school and constitutes a special case. An incredible offer has been made to solve the dilemma for this family. It has been offered €2 a day to cover the cost of getting over the difficulty and towards the cost of arranging private transport. This is bizarre in itself. I suggest not much more would go a long way towards sending the bus up and down the Quivvy Road. The situation seems to me to be the result of a local turf war of some description, but it affects real people and must be addressed. It is a problem for the victims and causes major difficulty in their lives.
Looking at the situation from the outside, it appears bizarre. That the Department has said if parents pay for an extended service, it will provide it is an admission the road is negotiable. The Minister of State may well have been told in memos that a school bus could not go that road, but the same Department staff are sending messages to the parents that if they pay up, the bus will pick up on the road. The road is negotiable, therefore. Otherwise, they are making an irresponsible offer.
Parents were to receive clarification on the safety of the pick-up point but that has not been forthcoming. The pick-up point is on the Clones-Belturbet road. Some 12 children from the Quivvy Road need transport. While there are approximately eight car owners on the road, many of those cars are used for going to work. I suggest that at virtually no cost the humane sensible solution could be offered in this situation. The children can be picked up and everyone can be happy. It is an affirmation of good parenting and of the children. It would also provide an opportunity for the parents to work and do other things. I appeal to the Minister of State to apply logic to this. Sometimes these things are considered based on a theoretical model that does not fit the real-life circumstances. I await the Minister's reply with interest and I know he will see the sensible option.
