Ar an gcéad dul síos, I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach for giving me this opportunity this evening. I thank the Minister of State for being here. Every August, my office is inundated with school transport queries from parents who have not been able to secure a bus place for their child. I am sure the same applies in the Minister of State’s office. It is the same for all representatives. This causes unnecessary stress late in the day before schools return. Children cannot get a bus ticket. Some might live too close to their nearest school, some live too far away from their school of choice and some are minimally further in distance between their nearest school and their second nearest school. These issues crop up for families coming from rural areas to local secondary schools in the towns. This is a particular issue in south Tipperary with schools in Cahir, Killenaule, Fethard, Cluain Meala, Mitchelstown in Cork and Carrick-on-Suir. For example, one family was unable to receive a bus ticket because Bus Éireann deemed that they live too close to a school in Cahir, despite the fact they live on a rural road a few kilometres away from the school with no footpath or public lighting. Their neighbour a little farther up the road was able to avail of the ticket. These rules are unworkable and unfair. I am sure the Minister of State understands that himself. Another common issue relates to two schools being very close to each other. I will give the example of my own village of Caisleán Nua, Newcastle, versus Cahir and Clonmel. Incidentally, back in the 1970s, when that school was managed by the vocational education committee it was closed down. The people of Newcastle received a commitment at the time that children would be able to attend a school in either Cahir or Clonmel. That commitment was given and accepted in good faith. While it operated for many decades, for some reason, it is now not operating. That school in Newcastle is approximately ten miles from Cahir and nine miles from Clonmel. The difference in distance from the village to the two towns is minimal. There is always a mix of students heading to secondary school in both towns because there are good schools in Clonmel and an excellent school and community college in Cahir, namely, Coláiste Dún Iascaigh. The current scheme dictates which school students can get a bus to, however. While the school transport scheme is an invaluable resource to families, it badly needs to be amended. The Department of education undertook a much-needed review of primary and post-primary school transport schemes in 2023. Recommendations from that review were made in 2024 to change the eligibility and distance criteria. Can the Minister of State confirm if his Department, along with Bus Éireann, have, or intend to, implement those changes and recommendations, which would greatly reduce the issues for the coming school year? It was vital that the scheme was examined. While it took a long time for it to be examined, the review has been carried out and recommendations have been made. The recommendations must be introduced immediately. There is no point waiting until late July or early August to do so. There is a problem with timing as well. The timelines for getting tickets are so late in the day that people have to scramble for one against time. Parents and guardians are worried and it causes awful trouble for children. Some are being bullied because they cannot get on a bus. Other children ask them why they cannot get a ticket or why they cannot pay for one and the usual things that can happen among teenagers. School transport is a great scheme, which was introduced by former Minister, Donogh O’Malley. I availed of it myself when it came out in 1969 or around that time. While it has worked well, like everything else, it needs to be tweaked now ahead of the new school term. People will be going on holidays, laethanta saoire, from now until August.

Sentiment score: 0.06

The Minister of State was lucky to get it in both schools. I did not get it in national school, but I cycled to Mount Melleray that year to do the entrance exam. They did not take in any students that year. They had the place closed. I went on the bus to St. Joseph's in Cahir. I too thank the bus drivers, many of whom have gone to their heavenly reward. I also thank the contractors who give an excellent service to this day. The tweaking is there to do with the over-70s. I have seen people here and I have been up on my feet ten times in the past ten years to try to get this over-70s disqualification changed. If a driver is fit and able and medically certified he should be able to bring the children to school. He is allowed come to school at 10 o'clock to bring them off to a match or anything else. It is nonsensical. The RSA has too much say on this. The Minister should trial a statutory instrument to clear this because the contractors cannot get drivers and it is age discrimination against the elderly. Early decisions are vital, as the Minister of State said, from 15 August until October though the children should be out in early June. Safe pick-up locations are important. For example, the Clogheen to Mitchelstown school bus does not come as far as the village of Clogheen - some call it a town - forcing parents to drive to Carrigmore cross halfway between Clogheen and Ballyporeen, a junction on a busy rural road, for pick-up. This is surely not best practice for road safety, particularly in the dark winter mornings and evenings. In the interests of safety some parents send their kids to route 245 Clonmel to Cork public bus stops. It is at the village at a similar time every morning to the public bus. This is only one example, but there are many. The free school bus tickets were introduced recently as a cost-of-living measure due to the downturn in the economy. They were hugely appreciated but they had many knock-on effects that were not anticipated with more people using the buses. It needs to be tweaked. I know the Minister of State is doing his best. He understands it himself and was a recipient of it in the early stages when it came out. I would appreciate if the move could be made. I know the pilot schemes are welcome, but we need more than pilot schemes.

Sentiment score: 0.24