Seanad Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 3 Nov 1993

Vol. 138 No. 1

Adjournment Matters. - School Transport.

Mr. Maloney

I thank you, a Chathaoirligh, for allowing the question to be taken and I thank the Minister for his attendance.

A number of blind children in Donegal travel to two schools in Dublin every week. There are 12 in all, attending St. Mary's in Marino and St. Joseph's in Drumcondra. I ask the Department of Education to provide a minibus to pick up the children on Sunday evenings to take them to Dublin and on Friday evenings to leave them home.

One can understand the dangers for blind children in travelling in an express or private bus from an area like Carndonagh, County Donegal on a 200-mile journey to Busáras where they are collected by the school staff. It causes worry for parents. It might be suggested that the parents accompany the children but it is not possible for some to do that because it involves them leaving for Dublin on Sunday afternoons, arriving in the evening and possibly having to stay overnight. These people cannot afford to stay in Dublin.

The children come from Letterkenny, Carndonagh, Donegal Town and Dungloe. Both the children and the parents are worried about the weekly journey. One has to consider danger of accidents. When they stop at the café in Monaghan no one is available to help them out of the bus to go to the toilet or for a cup of tea. Their clothes or money could be and have been stolen. Some parents are worried the children might be kidnapped. The current court case in England concerning the child of two kidnapped by boys of 11 shows the danger for blind children of six or seven who do not know their way around.

Deaf children from Northern Ireland attend school in Dublin. The education authorities in the North provide a bus which takes them to and from Dublin. The Northern Ireland bus takes two children from Donegal, which means we are not looking after those people adequately.

The Bus Éireann schedule is excellent and the parents are happy that the bus always arrives on time. However, the children are left not in Donegal but in Derry. Given the current problems in Northern Ireland the parents fear the bus could be stoned or hijacked. The children would have no one to take care of them.

If the Minister cannot provide the minibus I call for, I hope consideration will be given to providing an escort to travel with these children to and from Dublin. The EC provides that a companion pass be given to a blind person at 18 years. It seems ridiculous that these vulnerable children should be denied such a pass. To travel on a train a blind child must have an escort and in some circumstances a social worker travels with them. No such provision is made for buses. Blind people appear to be catered for only when they reach 18.

These children are being discriminated against. There is no educational facility for them in Donegal, so they have to go to Dublin. Children going to national school there are given a bus pass but those who are blind and travelling 200 miles do not get a pass. I ask the Department to alleviate the discrimination and do something to help these children.

Minister of State at the Department of Education (Mr. Aylward)

I thank Senator Maloney for raising this matter. I am at a disadvantage because the matter given to the Department gave no specific details so I do not have a specific reply. I am aware of and fully appreciate the difficulties encountered by some children with disabilities in travelling to special schools and classes and I would be anxious to alleviate those difficulties wherever possible. The present position is that Bus Éireann operates the school transport system as agents of my Department. That company assesses the eligibility of all children for transport and organises the provision of services for those who are eligible. The Department does not make detailed arrangements on the ground. Bus Éireann decides on the pick up and set down points and the size of vehicles for particular routes.

In the organisation of school transport services all routes are planned in such a way as to ensure that as far as possible every eligible pupil has a reasonable standard of service from the point of view of timetable and distance from the route while at the same time ensuring that all vehicles are fully utilised in the most efficient manner.

Children attending special schools and special classes are given special consideration in the matter of transport to school. This is in recognition of the nature of the disabilities involved and the relatively disperse locations from which many of the children concerned have to travel to school. The Department provides transport or alternatively a grant is made towards the cost of private transport arrangements or a combination of both. Due to the high cost of some services and the inconvenience to other pupils it is not always possible to provide a home pick up and set down service and in such cases a grant towards the cost of private transport arrangements is made.

In order to facilitate pupils attending residential special schools, such as St. Joseph's, the Department makes available transport vouchers which enable pupils to travel home at weekends on mainline rail and bus services. The successful operation of this service depends on a degree of co-operation between parents, pupils and the school authorities. In the current year approximately £38 million will be spent on the provision of school transport services. Of this amount approximately 20 per cent will be spent on services for pupils with a disability. This is a considerable commitment given that such pupils constitute only 2 per cent of the school going population.

The issue of school transport for children with disabilities and the range of services and equipment required in that context were among the matters which were considered in detail by the Special Education Review Committee. The Minister for Education has just received the committee's report and will be giving early consideration to the committee's recommendations.

As I said at the outset, the motion came without any specific detail. We could only assume that Senator Maloney was referring to the two blind children who travel from north-west Donegal each weekend. In those cases the Department provides a weekend pass on the scheduled bus service from Derry to Dublin for both of these pupils. A grant for both has been sanctioned towards the cost of private transport arranged between their homes and scheduled services because there is no suitable service from there.

Approaches have also been made to the Department for the provision of a minibus service from Donegal. The initial reaction of the Department was that this was not feasible because of the high cost involved. I also understand that one of the parents of the pupils involved raised the issue of an escort on the buses.

I have not got a detailed reply because of the lack of information received, but I assure the Senator that I will take on board all that he has said and bring the matter to the Department's attention. We will communicate with him as soon as possible.

The Seanad adjourned at 8.45 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 4 November 1993.