Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 11 Feb 1999

Vol. 500 No. 3

Written Answers. - School Transport.

Beverley Flynn

Ceist:

115 Ms Cooper-Flynn asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will have examinations made into the school transport arrangements to Scoil Raifterí national school, County Mayo, in view of the fact that the service provided is totally unacceptable (details supplied). [3971/99]

Minister for Education and Science (Mr. Martin)

It is the responsibility of each board of management, through the principal teacher to organise and participate in the effective supervision of pupils during breaks, lunch periods, assembly and dismissal. It is a matter for the authorities of each individual school to make any necessary arrangements to discharge this duty of care.

In the organisation of the school transport system, buses are normally required to operate a number of runs. This provides a basic level of service while achieving optimum value from the buses in use. To facilitate the operation of these services, children are often required to wait some time, morning and evening, for their service.

Primary school transport routes are planned so that, as far as possible, no eligible child should have more than one hour and 30 minutes travelling and waiting time each day. The service to Scoil Raifterí operates within this guideline. As the vehicle in question also serves another pri mary school, the pupils attending Scoil Raifterí are collected at 8.17 a.m. and arrive at the school at 8.35 a.m. However, overall waiting time is kept to a minimum, as these pupils are collected immediately after school finishes in the afternoon and brought home without delay. Since the service is within my Departments guidelines therefore, it cannot be regarded as unacceptable in the overall context of the scheme.