A staggering 3,100 students have been refused or not allocated a school bus ticket for this school year according to the Minister for Education who released the figures in response to a Parliamentary Question from Tipperary TD Mattie McGrath.
Of the 3,100 who were unsuccessful in obtaining a school bus ticket, 437 appeals were received by the School Transport Appeals Board. Of this number, just one appeal was allowed and a total of 195 appeals were either disallowed or were resolved between being submitted and being heard by the Board.
Deputy McGrath has also raised questions in relation to the delay in processing appeals.
There are 230 appeals whereby additional information has been sought by School Transport Section from Bus Éireann and once this information is received these appeals will be referred to the Board. There are 6 appeals that have been received in recent days and a further 5 that have been submitted to the Board for their next meeting which is due to be held on the 17th September 2020.
“There are 230 appeals waiting to have further information sent to the School transport section from Bus Éireann before the appeals can be submitted to the School Transport Appeals Board. What is the hold up. The closing date for school transport applications was Friday, 24th April, it is unbelievable that we are now well into September and the School Transport Appeals Board does not even have the necessary information available to it to process the appeals that have been submitted. The system is just archaic and not fit for purpose” said Deputy McGrath
According to Deputy McGrath, the failure to allocate a ticket to the 3,100 students that had applied for a school transport shows just the scale of the failures within the system and he has again called on the Government to prioritise a complete overhaul of the school transport system as difficulties were exasperated as a result of Covid 19 restrictions.
In October 2019, the then Minister announced a review of the school transport scheme with a view to ensuring funds are being spent in the most effective way to meet the objectives of the scheme. Terms of reference and the scope of the review have been drafted and a Steering Group has been established however with Covid-19 and the continued restrictions the work of the Steering Group has been delayed.
According to Minister Foley, it is intended to convene the Steering Group shortly and to agree and supplement revised terms of reference to reflect the Programme for Government.
“It is not acceptable that the review of the School transport scheme should be delayed as a result of Covid 19, given the fact that Covid 19 has in fact exacerbated the problems associated with the school transport scheme. With 3,100 students left to find alternative arrangements, the Government need to move on this and move urgently.” Said Deputy McGrath
Speaking about the ongoing difficulties for students, Deputy McGrath continued “Year in, year out problems arise when it comes to School transport and the government have refused to address the problem leaving it instead to parents to fight their individual cases. We can see from the number of successful appeals to date that appealing the case is of very little use. This year with the added pressure of Covid 19 thousands of students have either been refused a bus ticket or are still waiting for arrangements to be put in place. This is simply not good enough as all schools are now back to school.
The Government must act on this matter with extreme urgency.
For the students who are considered to be concessionary ticket holders, the uncertainty year in, year out is just not acceptable and a system that does not inform parents until well into August whether or not their children have school transport in September is totally not fit for purpose and a system which dictates which school a child can go to based on the difference of 1 or 2kms is archaic in the extreme.
Simply allowing parents to fight their individual cases is just not satisfactory. The system needs a complete overhaul and with the added pressure of the Covid 19 restrictions, it has to happen urgently.” Concluded McGrath
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