On page 57 of the programme for Government there is a commitment to ensuring appropriate care pathways are in place to improve cancer services and invest in end-of-life care. In County Wexford, sick children cannot access specialist palliative childcare teams when needed. Approximately eight weeks ago, a 16 year old child in Enniscorthy died from cancer. He was in hospital and wanted to go home for his last few days, but there was a row between two different hospitals and two different clinical teams because there was no specialist team in place to take care of him. I am not blaming the clinicians: it is a lack of specialist childcare palliative teams in the south east. When can such a specialist team be put in place in this very large area with a population of 0.5 million people?

I will have to ask the Minister to respond to the Deputy directly. It is a serious issue.

The programme for Government referred to rural small schools and stated that the closed school rule for school transport should be maintained. Many schools were closed in outlying areas in many parts of rural Ireland and the pupils from the catchment areas of the closed schools were given school transport to the central school in the parish. This was known as the closed school rule. Parents were happy to allow these small schools on the outskirts of a parish to be closed because they were guaranteed school transport in the future. However, the last Government scrapped the closed school rule and pupils in the catchment areas of many of the closed schools were denied school transport and were told they had to go to the nearest school, which was often in another parish and not the central school that replaced their own school. In many cases the school bus is passing the doors of pupils who have been denied school transport even though they are within the catchment area of the closed school. It is a living nightmare for many parents in west Cork, particularly for the parents of children going to school in Ballineen trying to get transport to the secondary school in Bandon. The public and parents were misled that the issue was resolved: there are still ten children on the roadside. It has not been resolved. When will the Government restore the closed school rule as promised in the programme for Government?

I am aware of the problems in west Cork in terms of school transport this year. The Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy McHugh, intervened to improve the situation but there are still outstanding issues. I will ask him to refer back to the Deputy directly on it.