We move now to the co-leader of the Social Democrats, Deputy Catherine Murphy.

Getting students back to school has been a major undertaking and a monumental task at individual school level, supported by a subvention of €375 million from the public purse. In addition, this week the leaving certificate results were issued and tomorrow CAO offers will be made. There have been positive Covid cases in some schools and a variation in how they have been handled. All of this has generated queries.

It is easy to miss another issue which has not received sufficient attention. On 18 August, NPHET recommended that school transport for secondary schools students apply the same social distancing as is the case with public transport. That was understood to mean that an additional 1,600 buses would be required.

Because of the requirements being changed so close to school reopening, there was a very short lead-in time. That is almost expired. Even more problems will emerge in the next week or two as a consequence of that. Many people are saying that there was a huge effort and financial resources deployed in getting schools opened but there is a sense of disbelief and frustration that getting students to the same schools is still chaotic. There is no end in sight and it is impossible for parents to get information. The school transport system causes real problems every year but Covid has amplified those problems. For those with a medical card and attending the nearest school, transport is provided. For those who do not have a medical card and are attending the nearest school, if there is spare capacity, they will be accommodated for a charge. These are called concessionary passengers. If there is no spare capacity, they have to make their own arrangements.

Many of those who are not attending the nearest school are doing so because there is no capacity in the nearest school and they could not get a place. Because of this they are not necessarily entitled to a place on the school bus because they are not attending the nearest school. Schools and parents sometimes organise private sector buses between them. The new social distancing requirement also applies to them and there is no subsidy. To be viable for private operators, they are effectively saying that parents will have to pay for two school places to achieve the social distancing unless there is a subsidy. That is not attainable for some households with multiple children.

In addition, Dublin Bus normally introduces a school timetable when schools return but it has been unable to do so because the National Transport Authority, NTA, has not funded such a timetable.

Is additional funding being made available to deliver the school transport, including the NTA and the Dublin Bus timetable? What is the timeline for getting transport fully in place? Will a subsidy be considered and provided for those who have to hire additional private buses because of the new social distancing rules?

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I know that a large number of Deputies, particularly in rural constituencies, are getting many representations about school transport, as we always do at this time of year, but they are of a very different nature this year because of the pandemic. It is absolutely the case that there have been positive Covid-19 cases among schoolchildren since schools reopened. Back in August I said that that would be the case. Some people criticised me at the time and said it was bad messaging or some such stuff. It was not messaging; I was just telling the truth and telling it as it is and making sure that parents would be prepared for the new normal in our schools, in that there will be cases among schoolchildren. So far as there is very little evidence of school transmission, which is really encouraging. We have not had significant school outbreaks. That may yet happen but it has not happened yet. The vast majority of children and teachers are much more likely to get Covid-19 in their own or somebody else’s home than they are in schools, which are very controlled and sanitary environments now, largely because of the very good work that has been done by teachers and school management to make them ready for living with Covid-19.

We are committed to ensuring that schools remain open safely and that school transport will play a vital role in that. We have invested more than €11 million in ensuring that school transport is safe. In line with new public health advice issued on 18 August, we are working to achieve 50% capacity on school buses for post-primary students. However, it was not possible to roll that out on 1,600 routes within two weeks. That change in advice came very late in the day.

We are taking a practical approach backed up with real resources to assist schools. In conjunction with the 50% capacity target, we are also working to accommodate concessionary students. As to the additional funding that the Deputy has asked about, €11.3 million has been provided for additional hygiene, sanitisation and PPE requirements on the school transport scheme. This allowance is in addition to that provided during the period of school closures between March and June, during which the Department continued to pay contractors 50% of their normal rate, even though school transport was not operating. That cost €26 million. The allowance for additional hygiene, sanitisation and PPE requirements will be kept under review and further engagement will take place with Bus Éireann, as necessary, when services resume.

The Tánaiste did not refer to Dublin Bus and I would appreciate if he would do that. While this is a dominant issue in rural areas, it is not exclusively so. The school route timetables have not been reintroduced and we are being told that they are not being funded by the NTA.

He referred to PPE and sanitising the buses. Is there additional funding for this because these buses are going to be half full? More buses will be needed. Is there money for those additional buses? How will the concessionary passengers be accommodated? I see hundreds of parents in their cars just in my own locality every morning who are doing this because they have no school transport. They cannot go to work and their lives are being disrupted by this as well. This is an investment that requires to be made. The schools are open and the children and students need to get there. When will all of those buses be in place? Surely, there is a plan of action or an indicative timeline. Can the Tánaiste give some information to people, even in a general way, because there is a dearth of information at the moment?

I will have to come back to the Deputy in respect of her specific question on Dublin Bus as I do not have that information to hand.

Among the actions that the Department of Education and Skills is taking is the provision of grant support to parents to help them with the cost of private transport arrangements where they want it. So far just under 1,000 parents or guardians have contacted the Department in regard to seeking a refund.

Under the terms of the school transport scheme, children are eligible for school transport if they satisfy the distance criteria and are attending their nearest school as determined by the Department and Bus Éireann having regard to ethos and language. The Government is working with Bus Éireann to ensure that capacity is rolled out at the 50% space and that space is opened up for concessionary students. No tickets will issue to post-primary late applicant payees until such time as routes are rolled out at 50% for those who applied and paid by the deadline of 4 August. As routes are rolled out, if capacity is available, tickets will be allocated at that point to those applicants.