Independent TDs Sean Canney and Deputy Noel Grealish have called on the Government to provide additional school buses to cater for children with concessionary tickets who are being refused school transport for the upcoming year.
Independent TD for Galway West, Noel Grealish said he has been inundated with calls from parents of children who had previously availed of concessionary tickets and who are no longer eligible, given the increase in applications for school transport, due to the fact the service is free of charge this year.”
Independent TD for Galway East Sean Canney said he has received calls from hundreds of parents who have been refused bus tickets despite their willingness to pay for the tickets. I have been contacted by schools who are encountering difficulties with up to 20% of students affected by the loss of discretionary tickets in some cases.
Both TDs have called for the Government to provide additional school buses and to deal with what Canney has described as “the school bus fiasco.”
Deputy Canney has said that the responsibility for resolving the issue lies with the Minister for Education, stating, “The Minister needs to intervene in this mess which has been created solely by her Department. There was no forward planning and parents are facing the prospect of having to give up work in order to bring their children to school. It is having a massive effect on families and schools and needs immediate action.
The debacle regarding school transport stems from the decision to waive ticket costs for 2022/23 by the Minister for Education, Norma Foley, something she hoped would help with back to education costs come September. Regarding this, Canney said, that the announcement by the Minister regarding the provision of “free school transport is resulting in many students across the county now being denied school bus tickets.”
Deputy Grealish has hit out at the Department of Education over the lack of proper plans to ensure that all children who availed of the service in previous years would be catered for and these children are now left in limbo.
Grealish added, “I am now calling on the Government to provide additional school buses to ensure that children who have used the service on a concessionary basis in the past will have a service for the forthcoming year.”
Both TDs have reported contacting the Minister’s office to try and set up urgent meetings to try and resolve the issue as quickly as possible.
Similarly, Sinn Féin’s Louis O’Hara also called for action by the Ministers for Transport and Education, stating that school bus situation currently “causes huge problems for parents in Galway who are trying to juggle their work commitments.”
