Vol. 331 No. 12
asked the Minister for Education if he will restore the school bus service to Annaghill national school, Ballyglunin, County Galway; and, if not, the reasons the bus service was withdrawn, as all the evidence shows that there was a sufficient number of eligible children available to justify the service.
57.
asked the Minister for Education if he is aware of the hardship being caused to parents and their children who attended Annagh national school, Ballyglunin, Tuam, County Galway as a result of the changes made in the school transport service; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 56 and 57 together.
The service has been operated with a large CIE bus since 16 November 1981. The Deputy will appreciate that the school transport scheme is operated to facilitate eligible pupils only. At the commencement of the current school year, it was considered that all the eligible pupils could be carried in the smaller (contractor's) vehicle. However, having considered all the circumstances of the case, including total benefit conferred and relative costings, I decided to sanction the restoration of the service as it operated up to last summer.
