I take this opportunity to congratulate the Taoiseach on his recent trip to America to represent Ireland. He did so with dignity and honour. While many people in this Chamber would have preferred that the Taoiseach had stayed at home and sat on his hands, he did not. He wore the green jersey with pride and I thank him for that.

I wish to talk specifically about the school transport scheme. As we all know, it is open to applications now. A review was completed in February 2024 and some changes were recommended. One concerned the eligibility criteria being examined, especially in terms of the nearest school rule. I have had parents contacting me from Mullinavat, Listerlin, Knockmoylan, Kells, Gowran and all over the constituency of Carlow-Kilkenny. They are worried and anxious to see if their children are going to get a school transport place. They are left waiting months and months to see if their child will be allocated a concessionary ticket. Last year, we had 250 children in County Kilkenny and 100 in County Carlow who did not receive a ticket at all. Finding out three or four days before school starts is not fair on hard-working parents who are then put under serious pressure to make alternative arrangements. I am just looking for an update on the eligibility criteria element regarding the nearest schools.

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I appreciate the concerns of and pressures on the parents in his constituency. At the moment, the school transport scheme sees about 172,000 children transported daily in approximately 7,900 vehicles across 10,300 routes. It is a very complex scheme. It includes over 143,800 pupils travelling on primary and post-primary services. There are also the special education needs services and so forth. In the context of the review of the scheme, a total of 14 pilot projects are under way this school year and funding has been provided for them. Essentially, however, we need to get through the completion of those pilots with a view to lessons being learned for application across the system. I do not understate what is required here or the challenges that will be involved. They will be significant.