Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 18 Jun 1998

Vol. 492 No. 6

Written Answers. - School Transport.

David Stanton

Ceist:

158 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Education and Science the number of students with special needs who travel on a CIE sponsored bus under the auspices of his Department; the number of seats on the bus; whether each child can avail of a seat belt or safety harness; his views on whether an escort should be provided in these circumstances; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14757/98]

David Stanton

Ceist:

159 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Education and Science the circumstances under which his Department will provide escorts for children with special needs who otherwise would have to travel unescorted on school buses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14758/98]

Minister for Education and Science (Mr. Martin)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 158 and 159 together.

Under the school transport scheme, special services are provided to over 100 special schools and approximately 400 special classes. The scheme caters for approximately 8,500 special needs pupils.

My Department's transport agent, Bus Éireann, utilises approximately 450 vehicles on special services. The vehicles vary in size depending on the particular routes being served. Details of the precise number of seats involved are not readily available in my Department.

My Department makes funding available to certain special schools to facilitate the purchase of safety harnesses for special needs children being transported to those schools. In 1996, a sum of £41,000 was made available for this purpose.

The question of escorts for children with special needs travelling to special schools and special classes was one of the issues considered by the school transport review committee. The committee's report was presented to my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy O'Dea, in September last year. The report was circulated to all relevant parties with an invitation to submit their views on the report's conclusions. I understand that the Minister of State has since had discussions with a number of groups and that the issue of provision for special needs pupils, including the question of escorts and harnesses for such pupils, has been raised. Serious consideration will be given to the views put forward by interested parties as part of the process of arriving at decisions on the future operation of the school transport scheme.

Since 1995, an annual allocation of £150,000 has been provided to fund the pilot scheme of grant-aid towards the provision of escorts on certain school transport services. All applications for support under the scheme were carefully considered in my Department. It was decided that the pilot phase should focus on facilitating the appointment of escorts on services to special schools for children with physical disabilities, and providing assistance towards the cost of escorts for pupils attending the special schools for hearing impaired and visually-impaired children who travel long distances by bus and train at weekends. I can assure the Deputy that the issues which he raises will be considered in the context of any proposed development of the special transport service.