Vol. 527 No. 5
250 Mr. Stagg asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will sanction a special dedicated school bus service for pupils from County Kildare attending Coláiste Cois Life post primary school, Lucan, County Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29177/00]
The school transport scheme was basically designed to cater for children in rural areas, who, if living a long distance from school, might otherwise have difficulty in attending regularly. In urban areas, schools are closer to the pupils' homes and scheduled transport is available.
As a rule, special school transport services are not established in areas where public scheduled bus services already exist. Eligible pupils in such cases are, however, facilitated with travel permits for public scheduled services.
Pupils for whom Coláiste Cois Life is their nearest all-Irish school are eligible for transport to this school provided that they live more than three miles from it. I understand that there are existing scheduled services, which leave the pupils 0.8 miles from the Coláiste, and there is a footbridge and public footpath between the set down point and Coláiste Cois Life. This is considered to be a reasonable level of service and there are no proposals at present to establish a dedicated school bus service for the pupils in question.
