Vol. 462 No. 8
190 Mr. M. Ahern asked the Minister for Education if her attention has been drawn to the concerns of the parents of the children with special needs ranging from autism to epilepsy, who travel unsupervised on a special school bus daily from Mitchelstown to Cork; if she will investigate this situation; if she will authorise the appointment of a conductor/driver's aid on this bus; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5695/96]
I am aware of the concerns referred to by the Deputy.
In 1995, I allocated £150,000 for a pilot scheme of grant-aid towards the provision of escorts on certain school transport services. All applications for support under this scheme were carefully considered by my Department.
It was decided that funding under the pilot phase of the scheme should be allocated as follows:
—to special schools for physically handicapped children in respect of their daily transport routes; and
—to provide assistance towards the cost of escorts for pupils attending the special schools for the hearing-impaired and visually-impaired who travel long distances by bus and train at weekends.
It will be necessary to fully evaluate the operation of the pilot phase before considering any modification or expansion of the scheme. However, I can assure the Deputy that the case to which he refers will be given every consideration in the event of any further expansion of the scheme being undertaken.
