THERE are real fears the chaos that surrounded school transport last year will be repeated again this autumn because of a delay in publishing and implementing the recommendations of the School Transport Review, according to Fine Gael Senator Tim Lombard.
Speaking to The Southern Star, Sen Lombard said he can’t believe that people are in the same situation this year as they were last August, regarding school transport issues.
Last year, The Southern Star highlighted the plight of numerous families across West Cork who were left without school bus tickets, with some being forced to drive their children back and forth to schools in nearby towns, while others were forced to pay for taxis to bring their children to school.
It has become an annual headache in recent years for families not only in West Cork but across the country. ‘In the past couple of weeks, this is once again the main issue that frustrated and anxious parents are contacting me about,’ he said. ‘It’s simply not good enough that we are seeing a repeat of the chaos we had last year with school bus tickets and families who have been using the service for a number of years suddenly finding themselves without tickets for September.’
Sen Lombard said the School Transport Review began in February 2021 and two and a half years later, they still have no final report and more importantly, no recommendations.
‘I don’t understand why this hasn’t been a priority for Minister for Education, Norma Foley.
‘This review is also set to include an examination of the School Transport Scheme for children with special education needs and the primary and post-primary School Transport Schemes. It is meant to look at eligibility criteria, trends, costs and cost drivers as well as overall effectiveness.
‘The Steering Group published an interim report in 2021 which implemented the second nearest school option for post-primary but the full overview of these outcomes is well overdue and should have been in place to plan for the 2023/2024 school year.’
He added that the term ‘concessionary’ also needs to be reviewed and it’s something he has been talking about since as far back as February 2021.
‘Yet, here we are in August 2023 and the concessionary tickets are still a huge bone of contention.
‘Nothing has changed for students and parents who find themselves falling under “concessionary” tickets.’
Concessionary bus tickets are given to students if there are seats available on a bus when they wish to attend a school that isn’t the nearest to them.
Sen Lombard said ‘innovative ideas’ are required to tackle these issues.
Cork South West TD Christopher O’Sullivan (FF) invited those having issues with school transport in the Ballinhassig area to attend a meeting he organised in Kinsale this week.
Meanwhile, Cllr Joe Carroll (FF) has welcomed news that a large bus has been tendered for students from Castletown Kinneigh and Newcestown, who are travelling to schools
in Bandon.
‘It should address the problems students had last year,’ he said.
