I congratulate the communities throughout the country that were involved in the Tidy Towns competition. Those volunteers have done Trojan work in every village and town. A certain town in Mayo was one of the national winners but rural towns such as Kinsale and Clonakilty retained their gold medals and Bandon got a bronze medal this year, which was very important. The work of those groups needs to be acknowledged. They are the true heroes of the community. They go out to ensure towns and villages look very well. The knock-on effect is that the communities get support by way of tourism or industry. We should acknowledge that they are true heroes.

I refer to an issue which arose at the education committee yesterday regarding the school transport service. Another colleague in the Chamber was at the meeting. It is one of the key issues at which we need to look. I raised it last week, am raising it this week and will probably raise it again next week or until there is some action.

The Minister in charge of the school transport service must come to the Chamber to go over the policy issues which are impinging significantly on people going to school. It is almost impossible for a person to get a bus, in particular in my part of the world, where he or she is just outside the area. There is no leniency and discretionary tickets are fading away because of population increases, in particular in the larger towns and villages close to schools. That means there is a knock-on effect on children in rural areas who cannot access a school bus service.

I have listened to the debates on this issue for the last 18 months and have continuously heard that it is a policy issue. As such, the Minister must come to the Chamber. We need a real debate on the vision. What does he propose to do for the education service to ensure students can get school transport? The system is currently ineffective because it discriminates down to the square mile or even in terms of a matter of a hundred yards, as in some cases I have encountered in recent weeks. In fairness to Bus Éireann and other providers, they are only following the letter of the law. There must be a total change in the 314 districts in place now and the way we ensure bus services get pupils to schools.

There is a degree of discrimination involved. If one is far away, one is excluded and told one is in the catchment of another school. That does not always work depending on the parish one lives in or the local demographics. If one has a parish which is aligned with a secondary school in the nearest town, pupils always go there. As such, a bus service should be provided. The whole system needs a real overview. We need to schedule time and to bring the Minister to the House. It is not about budget issues; it is about a change in policy and a complete review. What I really need is for the Leader to see if we can get the Minister to come to the House in order that we can have a complete review of the policy. The policy is broken and, unfortunately, the service is not working.

Following that, while I accept that there is a real issue in rural areas regarding the school transport service, what must be reviewed at the same time is school catchment areas. Sometimes catchment areas do not overlap correctly with the result that children are refused access to schools. It is a real and urgent matter with which we must deal. We will have to see the Minister work with the Department of Education and Skills to bring forward a solution. I welcome the fact that Senator Lombard has raised the issue today. It is one we need to address quickly. Certainly, he will have my full support on it.

As for the upcoming budget, I note that I am privileged to work with an all-party group on dementia. We have put forward budget proposals detailing approximately €50 million of investment in community supports for people with dementia. While it will be difficult for the Leader to have the Minister attend prior to the budget, I still wish to raise the matter. If the Leader has an opportunity to raise the matter with the Minister, I would appreciate it if he does so. I will give the example of two areas where a small amount of money could make a huge difference. Within our submission, we ask for €1.4 million for dementia advisers to work with families and GPs across the country. That alone would help people to stay within their communities and raise the level of awareness among GPs and families of the available supports. While there are supports, sometimes people find it difficult to access them due to a lack of knowledge. Dementia advisers would help in that regard. We have also asked for €3.1 million to provide centres of excellence to support GPs and families. These centres of excellence would be located in primary care centres and could cross over with supports for Down's syndrome also.

If we could get the Minister to come to the House it would be, above all, to discuss home care packages. We have requested €6 million to provide home care packages for people with dementia. This is the second budget where there is a little wriggle room. This is a growing problem nationally. If we could start this year to provide an additional €6 million towards home care packages for people with dementia, it would have a real impact for people suffering from this, assist their families and allow people to continue to lead productive lives within their communities. I know time is tight and I will fully understand if the Leader cannot get the Minister to attend within the period. However, if the Leader could raise the matter, I would appreciate it.