Denis Naughten
Ceist:5 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Education and Science when he will publish the report on school transport. [21753/97]
Other Questions. - School Transport Report.
As the Deputy will be aware, the School Transport Review Committee has recently completed an extensive review of the school transport system. The committee's report was received by my colleague the Minister of State, Deputy O'Dea, and is currently being examined by my Department.
It is intended to publish the report in early 1998 and to ensure that it receives the widest possible dissemination. My aim is to stimulate an extensive debate on the contents of the report before making final decisions on any future changes to the school transport scheme. I want to make it clear that I will not take any decisions until I have reflected on that debate and there has been an opportunity for all concerned to become involved in it. The Minister of State, Deputy O'Dea, who has responsibility for school transport and youth services, will initiate that debate in early or mid-January.
It is strange that the Minister tells us that report will be published in 1998 when the Taoiseach told us it would be published this month. Somebody should communicate with the Taoiseach on that. Has the Minister discussed school bus safety standards with the Minister for the Environment who is drawing up plans on the issue of safety belts?
I have, and I am concerned about the safety issue. The school transport issue is not one that will be easily resolved and Deputies opposite know that because it is not so long ago since they were in Government and had access to the reports on this. It has taken since 1996 for the report to be prepared and it has not been completed yet. We discussed this matter with the Minister for the Environment, Deputy Dempsey. We are concerned about safety elements and the report deals with that matter. With Christmas approaching it makes sense to defer the debate until January.
We need to fundamentally examine the school transport system. Significant State money is expended on it. This important system in education was introduced by the late Donough O'Malley and gave effect to free second level schools. It enabled pupils to be brought to schools in a way that was not possible 30 years ago. Since then anomalies have arisen and not a day passes when there is not a parliamentary question seeking a rearrangement of routes or a review of catchment areas. As a result a complex system has emerged and it will not be easily resolved. I do not want to give the impression that the mere publication of the report will usher in an immediate radical change. We need to study it carefully and deliberate on its recommendations.
Has the Minister any plans following the publication of the report? He said he would consider suggestions and review the matter. Has the Department any plans to lift the embargo on the termination of some school services and has the Minister any plans to change the catchment area boundaries?
We have no immediate plans to change the catchment area boundaries and there are no plans to terminate certain school services. When the report is published we will study it as I have no doubt will the Deputy and we will debate it.
It would be too much to hope for political consensus on the way forward but we cannot stand still. Following the publication of the report, we will decide in which direction to go. The Minister of State, Deputy O'Dea, intends to give this matter considerable attention. He has secured a 100 per cent increase in the provision for adult literacy programmes, which were a key concern of his. School transport is also an issue with which he intends to deal effectively.
Contrary to what the Minister said, I have not been on that side of the House nor have I seen the reports to which he refers. I am aware of overcrowding on school buses. What advice would the Minister give in such a situation? Who would be responsible if there was an accident involving a school bus, something to which we come extremely close? Who is responsible for overcrowding on school buses? Drivers are put in an impossible situation. In his review, will the Minister consider safe cycling routes to schools to offset, in some way, the demands put on motorised school transport and in light of the fact that more parents are insisting that their children do not walk or cycle to school because of increasing traffic hazards?
On the Deputy's last point, I will work with my colleague, the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, on cycling routes. Local authorities could do more to provide safe cycling routes, particularly to schools. Traditionally, civil engineering has concerned itself with building roads and many roads were built when EU Structural Funds were provided. I worked on a cycling committee in Cork Corporation before I became Minister. At that stage we had the guts of a plan for routes to schools and colleges. The Deputy made a good suggestion.
On the safety issue, I am not a lawyer so I do not know who would decide who was ultimately responsible if an accident occurred. Safety issues are a major concern and the report highlights them in its deliberations. Recommendations will emanate from the report and the Minister responsible will take steps with the providers and contractors to see how we can alleviate overcrowding on a number of school buses.