School Transport.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 November 2004

Tuesday, 9 November 2004

Questions (289)

John Deasy

Question:

351 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Education and Science if she has received requests from educational interests to carry out a review of the school transport catchment areas; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28085/04]

Written answers

Minister for Education and Science (Ms Hanafin)

For the purposes of post-primary education provision, the country is divided into catchment areas, each of which has its own post-primary education centre. These areas were drawn up in the late 1960s in the context of the free education scheme. The catchment boundaries were determined following consultation with local educational interests and the intention was that certain primary schools would feed exclusively into each centre. A relatively small number of primary schools are shared between two or more centres.

A small number of requests from educational interests in relation to adjustments to specific catchment area boundaries have been received and processed on an individual basis. However, my Department has no plans at present to carry out a full review of all such boundaries.