School transport concessionary tickets
Deputy O'Rourke challenged the Taoiseach's figures and said concessionary school transport tickets were being reduced unfairly. The Taoiseach disputed the numbers, said extra tickets had been issued overall, and argued the fee waiver was intended to cut family costs.
I want to return to the issue of the debacle of school transport. The Taoiseach said 124,000 tickets have been allocated. The scheme carried 121,000 people last year. The fact is-----
Comment on this
It did. The fact is that fewer concessionary tickets will be available this year than ever before. Why was priority not given to those people who applied on time? It has significantly reduced the number of concessionary tickets that are available. Very many of those people have been using the service for years. The Government needs to find a solution for those children.
Comment on this
Leaving out special transport, an extra 21,000 tickets have been issued over last year. That is significant. There are pluses to what has happened. If we did nothing, we could have managed the existing numbers and left everything alone but we were anxious to reduce costs for families, which are significant. A figure of €650 for many families is a significant reduction in the cost.
Comment on this
It is added cost for those families.