Written Answers. - School Transport for Handicapped.
Seymour Crawford
Ceist:
178
Mr. Crawford
asked the
Minister for Education
if, in view of her reply to Parliamentary Question No. 431 of 6 October 1993, she will give the result of the special education review committee on the question of school transport for handicapped and the result of the examination of the possibility for alternative arrangements based on increased grant support to meet the special needs in the cases raised by access for the disabled.
The report of the special education review committee has now been published. I attach an extract from that report which sets out the committee's views and recommendations on school transport services. I will be giving early consideration to the committee's overall findings.
My Department has not yet completed its review of the particular case raised by Access for the Disabled. As part of the process of seeking to advise the best possible solution for all concerned, contact is being established with the relevant health authority who may be in a position to make a positive input into future arrangements.
Special Education Review Committee
Extract from Report
7.3.4.School Transport Services
The current annual cost of school transport is approximately £36m. Of this, about £6m is spent on special school transport services. Bus Eireann acts as the agents for the Department of Education in the administration and delivery of the service. This is done in accordance with the rules regarding eligibility and the unit-cost limits set but the Departments of Education and Finance.
The Committee has considered submissions outlining certain problems which have arisen in relation to the transport of pupils to special school and classes. Concern has been expressed about individual cases of students with disabilities living significant distances from their school and from established special transport routes. In some cases, even if the services were to be extended to more adjacent pick-up points, the pupils might still be required to spend as much as two hours per day travelling to and from school. In other cases, because of the financial constraints imposed by existing limits, it has not been possible to extend some services to pick-up points adjacent to the homes of a minority of students. In this situation, the Department gives the parents an annual subvention of £600 maximum towards the cost of transporting the pupil to the most convenient pick-up point of an existing service. This system has been criticised on the grounds that some parents are not in a position to drive their children to and from a pick-up point every day, and that the allowance is inadequate. It has frequently been pointed out that the cost to the State of maintaining these pupils in residential schools would be considerably higher.
Reservations have also been expressed to the Committee in regard to the absence of escorts from buses. It is asserted that certain pupils should not be allowed to travel on buses without adult supervision, in addition to the driver. Submissions have also drawn attention to the need for wheelchair lifts, ramps, clamps, harnesses and seat belts, particularly on buses which carry physically disabled pupils.
The Committee, therefore, recommends that:
(i) Increased funding should be made available by the Department of Education, so as to allow for the extension and restructuring of existing transport services for pupils with disabilities.
(ii) In cases where and extension proves not to be feasible, the present range of transport grants, at present limited to a maximum of £600 per pupil per year, should be doubled and subsequently increased in line with authorised increases in mileage rates payable to private contractors by Bus Eireann.
(iii) The Department of Education should grant-aid the provision of escorts on school buses, where the need for them has been shown to exist.
(iv) In the context of the Interdepartmental Co-ordinating Committee recommended in Chapter 8 ("Linkages") below, the Departments of Education and Health should clarify, as a matter of urgency, their respective areas of responsibility for providing escorts and special equipment on some school transport services.
(v) The maximum passenger loading for students of post-primary age with special needs should be the same as that for all other post-primary pupils.
