Vol. 496 No. 7
292 Mr. Aylward asked the Minister for Education and Science if school transport will be made available to a person (details supplied) in County Kilkenny who is attending a special school and is the holder of a bus pass. [24085/98]
The person in question is not a pupil of the special school referred to by the Deputy. The individual concerned is a trainee attending a vocational training centre. While my Department sanctions some teaching hours for trainees attending vocational training centres, the centres are funded by the health authorities and do not form part of the remit of my Department. However, wherever possible, my Department tries to facilitate such trainees with transport to and from vocational training centres on school buses providing that no additional cost is involved. In this particular case, the provision of a home pick-up/set-down service would entail additional costs as the school bus would have to be diverted from its current route.
