Wexford-Wicklow TD, Deputy Ó Súilleabháin, has called on Ministers Moynihan and McEntee to stop passing the buck over the ongoing shambles in the school transport system, and to end the chaos, which he says is the worst he has ever seen since he started out as a teacher 35 years ago.
“My office has been inundated with messages from concerned parents about the chaos surrounding school bus transport. We’ve been tryingbour best to asdist them. This issue arises every year, but this year is by far the worst I can recall, since I first started teaching 35 years ago. Having taught for over 34 years, including many of those in special education, I’ve seen at first-hand how vital school transport is for children with additional needs.
A neighbour of mine who has a child on the autistic spectrum has had to deal with distressful outbursts, resulting in extra medication, due to the disruption in normal schedule, in being informed the evening before opening that the bus route had been pulled.
Parents are telling me about bus services being pulled at the last minute, situations where one child in a family gets a bus place while the other in the school next door does not – forcing the parent to drive behind the bus which has empty seats. It’s ridiculous!
We have children from as far as Ashford in Wicklow attending Gorey Hill Special School with no transport, leaving parents in limbo. Some are forced to choose which child to bring to school because they simply can’t be in two places at once.
In other cases, parents in Ferns are paying privately—up to €1,300 per year – for their children to attend school in Bunclody, due to the complete absence of a bus route.
A parent of a child in Castletown NS stated:
“My appeal along with other families attending Castletown NS that have been refused this year come to a total of 13 children,” they said.
How in the name of God have Ministers Moynihan and McEntee allowed the school transport system to reach this crisis point? The problem has been flagged up for years now.
Plus, I spent 10 years on the Waterford-Wexford Education & Training Board where I often raised the need for Apprenticeships for Bus Driving, in conjunction with Bus Éireann. I raised it again at the Oireachtas Committee on Further & Higher Education some months ago.
I’ve sent numerous pieces of correspondence to both Ministers, as well as to Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien, but they continue to pass the buck. The Minister for Education claims she’s not responsible. The Minister for Transport says he’s not. The Minister of State at the Department of Education and Youth simply forwards the same information from Bus Éireann that both the parents and I already know—without offering any real solutions.
We need to ask: why are private companies not submitting bids to Bus Éireann, which is contributing to the shortage of buses and drivers?
The entire school transport system needs to be re-evaluated. No child should be denied access to their school of choice due to a lack of a place on a bus.
A parent contacted me claiming that at least 4 routes had been pulled for Gorey Hill Special School. This is government failure of our children at its worst. We must invest more in our school transport systems.”
Wexford Weekly
This article was published by a member of the Wexford Weekly team.
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