Direct transport from home to school
Quill argues that the system can prioritise transport operators over children and says Cork pupils may need a second journey to reach school. Fahey says a more child-focused service could require a much larger budget; further attempted contributions are cut short by the Chair.
The Minister has admitted that there are many anomalies. Would he accept that in many cases the school transport system is designed to facilitate transport operators rather than children? If he is looking for a criteria against which to eliminate a number of the anomalies, he might start with the children. In my constituency children who want to get to a certain school are brought by public transport to the city of Cork and must make their way to the school by another means of transport. If children could be taken from their homes to the school I would suggest that that might be a very good way to begin unravelling the anomalies to which the Minister has referred and which he has honestly acknowledged are there.
Comment on this
The primary objective of the school transport system is to provide a cost-effective method of transport of children to their respective schools. If we were to attempt to provide a system of transport with children only in mind I would suggest, with respect, that we would possibly require double the existing budget from the Department of Finance and I wonder if that accords with the policy of the party to which the Deputy belongs.
