Seanad debates
Wednesday, 6 December 2023
Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters
School Transport
10:30 am
Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
I am delighted to have the Minister of State in the Seanad. I am fed up, as no doubt every other politician is, with the state of school transport in this country. It is an absolute outrage, to be honest, that the Department of Education has been sitting on a report on school transport since 2021.
I rise today specifically to deal with one issue in Galway around the Educate Together national school in Newcastle. For years, we had a bus service from beyond Moycullen – families in Rosscahill are affected as well – but it was abandoned a week into the service in September of this year. Since 12 September, there has been no bus coming in from Moycullen. There are now at least 20 families on the road in their cars when they do not need to be. All of those kids could be on one bus coming in and out.
The mother in one particular family coming from Rosscahill has to take an hour of annual leave every single day to bring her kids in and out because she starts work at 8 a.m. She then has to pay €15 extra to a childminder every day to get somebody to collect her kids and bring them home to Rosscahill. I do not know if the Minister of State knows the area, but Rosscahill is in a rural part of Galway past Moycullen, so it is not really feasible to get somebody else to collect and deliver children.
It is obviously a real frustration for these families but to me it is also a frustration because of the environmental impact it is having. It is completely unnecessary travel. I am the education spokesperson for the Green Party, as the Minister of State knows. I brought up numerous times at the education committee that I simply see no real initiative in the Department of Education when it comes to the environment. I am delighted that we finally got solar panels on school buildings over the line last week. However, when it comes to school transport, it is a no-brainer. Some 30% of the traffic in Galway is kids being brought to school in a car when they could all be on buses if we got that bit right.
We would love to see the Department of Education allow school transport to go into the Department of Transport so it could be joined up. Buses are not going a million miles away from where these school kids are going to and from. If it could all be joined up so that we have one transport system that everybody could use, we could get away from these issues. The issue in Moycullen and Rosscahill is the lack of a bus driver. I know that the same issue applies in many areas. The way we do transport in this country is very inefficient. I do not think it should take two years – it is more than two years now – for the Department of Education to get to grips with what the problem is. Ask any politician is and they will tell you what the problem is. We are at our wits' end.
I am also at my wits' end because there is never any response from Bus Éireann. All of these parents will individually ask, but I cannot get the answers. Now I have to bring in the Minister of State to answer for the Minister for Education. There is no doubt that every other politician is doing the same thing. I ask for a bit of communication on where the review is, and in particular on this bus service for Moycullen. You cannot give people the expectation for years that their kids will continue to be brought in on a school bus and then just drop it in the middle of September.
Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
As a mother who always depended on school transport, I can hear the frustration in Senator O’Reilly’s voice. It depends where you live. People in large towns and cities do not realise how important school transport is until their children need it. For 18 years, I have been putting my youngsters on a school bus. They would not have secondary school only for that. I understand where the Senator is coming from.
Before I address the specific issues raised on the Galway Educate Together National School in Newcastle, I wish to provide an outline of the extent of the school transport scheme. The school transport scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. As part of the operation of the scheme, Bus Éireann manages the procurement, tender process and contract management arrangements to include services provided by contractors under the school transport scheme. There are currently in the region of 7,000 vehicles operating on the scheme. The competitive procurement process is conducted in accordance with the negotiated procedure under national and EU procurement legislation.
In the 2022-23 school year, more than 149,000 children, including more than 18,000 children with special educational needs, were transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country. In addition, school transport scheme services were provided for more than 5,400 children who arrived to Ireland from Ukraine. The total cost of the scheme in 2022 was €338 million.
The school transport scheme is an important service for families, as I said, and children. The purpose of the Department's school transport scheme is, having regard to available resources, to support the transport to and from school of children who reside remote from their nearest school. There has been an overall increase in both applications and tickets issued for the 2023-24 school year in comparison with the previous year. Already over 134,000 tickets have issued to mainstream pupils for the 2023-24 school year which is an increase of 12% when compared with the start of the last school year. The number of tickets issued so far has already exceeded the total number of tickets issued in the 2022-23 school year.
To date, over 5,500 new applications have been received for SEN transport for the 2023-24 school year, with over 1,400 of these having been received since July alone. This compares with 5,100 new applications received at this time last year. To date transport has been provided for over 4,300 new applicants for the 2023-24 school year, with transport being provided for over 19,000 pupils in the current school year. The Department continues to receive applications all year round.
As the Deputy is aware, a review of the school transport scheme has been completed. The review was conducted with a view to examining the current scheme, its broader effectiveness and sustainability, and to ensure it serves students and their families adequately. The technical working group and the steering group have recently completed their work on the final report of the review. This final report includes recommendations on the future operation of the scheme. The report has recently been submitted by the steering group for consideration by the Minister, Deputy Foley.
Regarding the topic raised by the Senator today, Bus Éireann has confirmed that no services were cancelled. However, it has reported that, as the Senator said, there is currently no contractor or driver to operate the service in question. This is against a backdrop of a significant shortage of drivers in the labour market overall and competing demands for drivers to deliver additional public transport initiatives such as Connecting Ireland, BusConnects and Local Link services. Bus Éireann has confirmed that the route in question is currently in the procurement process and once a suitable contractor or driver is sourced, transport will commence. Bus Éireann continues to engage directly with the families affected, with regular communications updating them on the position with their transport service.
The Department has established an exceptional no-service interim grant to assist with the cost of private transport arrangements families may have to put in place until their service begins.
Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
The Minister of State's response has outlined numerous other problems with school transport which highlights the absolute urgency in getting this report. We are now in December and we will be lucky to get sight of it before Christmas. It will end up having taken more than two years to get a report to tell us what we basically already know which is that school transport is a bit of a joke. People are given an allocation of a school bus and nobody shows up to drive the bus. I am frustrated but I am nowhere near as frustrated as the parents who need to take time off work every day to take their kids to school.
I am hearing that there is not enough communication with these parents. I appreciate what the Minister of State is saying that they are in regular communication. We still have no idea as to when this procurement process will be completed or when the school bus is likely to come. There are two things going on here. First, the Minister of State has said that it has not been cancelled. Second, she is saying a procurement process is under way. Either the school bus is on or there is a procurement process. I do not think both can be happening at the same time.
I know the Minister of State understands my frustration. I appreciate that she is coming in here and answering questions on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Foley. However, as politicians, we need communication with us, including timely responses to our questions from Bus Éireann which would mean I would not need to have to bring a Minister in here.
Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
I understand the Senator's frustration. It must be acknowledged that 149,000 children travelled to school on a school bus last year. Many of them had additional needs and were accompanied on the bus. It is an enormous logistical operation. As the country is at full employment, there are issues with getting home care and the same applies with getting bus drivers. We often hear reference in the Dáil to the fact that once bus drivers reach the age of 70, they can no longer drive unless they drive for a private company. It is an issue that has been spoken about frequently. We are challenged in many areas, including construction and hospitality.
The Minister wants to reiterate that no service has been cancelled. While the lack of contractors and drivers is extremely regrettable, Bus Éireann is prioritising the establishment of new services for the small number of families affected. I again mention the exceptional interim grant. I will bring the Senator's frustration to the attention of the Minister, Deputy Foley, and her office. It is certainly not acceptable for a parent to have to take one hour's annual leave every day to drop her children to school. I will certainly bring that back.
Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source
I thank the Minister of State. I also thank Senator O'Reilly for tabling this Commencement matter which we all find very frustrating.