Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 3 Nov 1999

Vol. 510 No. 1

Adjournment Debate. - School Transport.

Mr. Allen

I wish to raise the school transport problem affecting children in the Glanmire-Knockraha area who are attending second level school in Carrigtwohill. Nine children are being refused public school transport from the Riverstown-Knockraha area on the grounds that they should attend Glanmire community college, which is in the catchment area. Children attending Carrigtwohill last year were initially refused public school transport, but were subsequently accepted on a school bus.

The parents of the nine children involved applied to County Cork VEC last May. The fees were accepted in July when an invoice from Bus Éireann was received. The acceptance of the money indicated their applications were accepted. Having paid the fees for the school transport, some of the parents bought the necessary uniforms and books required for that school.

However, unfortunately, on 13 August, just ten days before the commencement of the new school year, the parents were informed that their children would not be taken on the school bus to Carrigtwohill and this has caused major problems. I am informed there are insufficient places in Glanmire community college to accommodate all nine children. This means that in the Knockraha area, for example, some of the children of one family have been collected by the bus, while one child is left by the side of the road and must be taken by private car to the college at substantial cost to the family. Another family is paying £50 per week in taxi fares to transport a child to and from the college. In consequence the family, which is in rented accommodation, is now about to move to a house in Carrigtwohill.

The families decided to send their children to school at Carrigtwohill because of assurances given by the school authorities that the school bus problem had been resolved. I am informed this assurance was given at an open night in the school on 8 December 1998. Will the Minister of State advise if at one stage two buses travelled to the school at Carrigtwohill? Is it the case that at present only one bus travels to the school and that it is, at times, over-crowded?

If rules exist parents should be informed as soon as possible of the decision of the local school transport authority, in this case County Cork VEC. In this instance all appeared to be in order when the VEC accepted the parents' application and they were subsequently invoiced by Bus Éireann. If Bus Éireann sent invoices to the parents, the VEC must have accepted the children. Why was that decision approved initially and then reversed?

Will the Minister indicate what happened to the report commissioned by me when I was Minister of State in his Department? The report was received by the Department in May or June 1997. What decision or action has been taken on the review of the school transport system? It was overdue by five or six years, but now that it has been undertaken what has happened regarding the implementation of the report's recommendations?

Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science (Mr. O'Dea)

This gives me the opportunity to outline the position in relation to school transport for pupils from the Glanmire-Knockraha area to St. Aloysius College. By way of general comment I should explain some basic facts about the school transport scheme, which will be well known to the Deputy as he administered the scheme when he was Minister of State.

Bus Éireann, which operates the scheme on behalf of the Department, has a responsibility to ensure the safe delivery of approximately 154,000 primary and post-primary pupils to schools throughout the country. My Department has responsibility to ensure that the State gets the best possible value for the money spent on this service. It does not come cheaply. In 1998 the net cost to the State was in excess of £40 million.

One of the main objects of the school transport scheme is to provide a basic level of service for children who live long distances from school and who might otherwise experience difficulty in attending regularly. For the purposes of the post-primary education scheme, the country has been divided into catchment areas. Recognised post-primary pupils who live at least three miles from the post-primary centre of the catchment area in which they reside are eligible under the scheme for transport to that centre.

While it is the prerogative of parents to send their children to the school of their choice, it is not the object of the scheme to facilitate parents in exercising that choice. The position in this case is that Glanmire-Carrigtwohill has been a common catchment area since the erection of Glanmire community school in 1997. Pupils who reside in the common catchment area and are over three miles from the nearest post-primary school are eligible for transport to their school of choice within the common catchment area.

I understand that the pupils concerned reside less than three miles from their nearest post-primary school, Glanmire community college. In the circumstances, they are not basically eligible for transport under the school transport scheme and, accordingly, it is not open to my Department to offer them transport to St. Aloysius College. While being sympathetic to the needs of the pupils concerned, my Department must consider the operation of the scheme as a whole and the requirement not to breach guidelines, which would have financial and policy implications for the transport service overall.

Deputy Allen raised a number of questions. I will investigate the Deputy's advice that the tickets were already issued and a commitment made and communicated to him.

He also asked me to check if there were two buses initially which have been replaced by one bus. I will also check that. He asked about the School Transport Review Committee report. If Deputy Allen will recall, the report's main recommendation was that children with disabilities should be accommodated in terms of harnesses, escorts, etc. It recommended that charges be increased and that two thirds of the money received should be spent on that sector. We have managed to accommodate that sector without increasing charges. A few outstanding matters remain to be achieved which were recommended by the School Transport Review Committee. I have applied to the Government under the current Estimates negotiations for funding to implement these recommendations.