asked the Minister for Education why school transport has been withdrawn in the case of school children from Dugort, Achill, County Mayo, who are attending the Valley national school,

As the number of eligible children offering for transport fell below the required minimum, the Department had no option but to withdraw this service from Easter, 1977.

Would the Parliamentary Secretary accept that this was a case where amalgamation took place? Would he not consider that the transport promised to parents at that time should be continued?

In an amalgamation in cases such as this the specific minimum required is lower for the maintenance of the transport than it would be in a case where it was established because of amalgamation. The establishment was 10. In the Dugort school area the number travelling was six for two consecutive terms, which according to the regulations meant that the service fell.

In view of the fact that it seems likely that the number will increase in the next month or two would the Parliamentary Secretary agree that the service should be continued?

There have been reports of a number of other children in the area, but five names were given and it seems that only one of those was a child who was eligible for transport under the terms of the scheme. That brought the number to seven, but it also transpired in the course of the same investigation that one of the children who had made up the original basic six had left the area, which brought us down to six again. I will certainly have further inquiries made to see if there is any possibility that the numbers could be brought up again, but it seems that we have all the information now and there are still just six.

Will the Parliamentary Secretary agree that where possible in cases like this re-routing should deal with the matter? Even if it involves a few miles extra travel, will he see to it that buses are re-routed to cater for people who are caught in similar circumstances?

In determining whether a sufficient number of eligible children are available for a transport service, they must be resident in what is described as a "distinct locality". Roughly speaking, this is interpreted as a quarter of the total school district. The scope for re-routing, therefore, is confined within the quadrant and it would not be possible to have a re-routing that would encompass the entire school district.

Would the Parliamentary Secretary like to tell the House, who, in addition to the people in his Department, have this esoteric knowledge of the quadrant?

It is the way in which the service has been operated and anyone who queries the matter can have the information fully explained in detail. It is a simple enough concept to explain when it is put down on paper.