Anger growing in Mayo as children are left without a school transport service

There are many children who will not have school transport this morning or on Monday morning, according to a Mayo TD.

Responding to growing frustration of parents across the country, Deputy Conway-Walsh said: “The school bus ticket system needs to be reopened immediately. We have a situation where children have no means of getting to school.

“Parents sent in their payment to local offices only to be told that the system was closed and their child will not be allowed on the bus.

“Segregation of children into concessionary and eligible categories is just appalling and needs to be reversed.

“I have heard from many distraught parents who have no way of getting their children to school.

"This includes healthcare and other essential workers that have work schedules that make it impossible to drive their children.

“The government faces huge challenges ensuring that school transport is provided to all students and also adheres to the public health advice on social distancing.

“That said, we have been socially distancing for months and plans should have been put in place for this foreseeable need for increased capacity to allow for it in school buses.

“Transport to school, particularly in rural areas, was always going to need a specific plan of action. It should never have been let get to this situation.

"The government should have been out in front of this by putting a plan in place and communicating with parents.

“Parents need to be told what steps are being taken to ensure no children are left behind as schools reopen.”

"The Minister for Education does not get the issue of school transport at all. There are hundreds of children who cannot get a seat on the bus.

"I am not talking about concessionary children, although it is abysmal to categorise children in that way.

"Many of those the minister refers to as concessionary are the children of our frontline workers who cannot get to work because their children do not have a seat on the bus.

"What would the minister say to the mother of four children who has contacted me? Her children are 15, 13, ten and eight years old.

"She missed the deadline by two days because she was having surgery. She has no transport and it is a distance of 20 miles to the school.

"How are those children going to get to school? The minister does not get the urgency of the situation.

"People are being pushed from Billy to Jack.

"Bus Éireann's reply to this mother indicated that payments to it cannot be processed at the moment because it is unsure if there is any spare capacity and that it will have a further look at the matter in a few weeks.

"For heaven's sake, these children have been off school for months already. It is just not good enough."

Mayo Fianna Fáil TD Dara Calleary has said it is a matter of absolute urgency that the Department of Education attain additional capacity on post primary school runs throughout Mayo.

Deputy Calleary raised the matter in a meeting with Minister Norma Foley and in Dáil Éireann.

“When the announcement of 50% capacity for Post Primary (PP) services, due to the need for social distancing on services, was made on August 20 Bus Éireann’s website where families access their accounts was closed.

"It now appears that anyone who paid late (after August 5) and did not have a ticket issued to them by August 20 will not get a ticket.

"This is to allow Bus Éireann to work on allocating post primary seats at 50% capacity to those who have tickets,” explained Deputy Calleary.

“Every year there are people who pay late and in normal times Bus Éireann staff spend the first few weeks of September working hard to make sure that such students are looked after where it is possible.

“This year the Department of Education and Bus Eireann are taking the line that if you paid late you will not get a seat. #

"It is creating massive amounts of stress and anxiety around the county and the country as parents trying to hold down jobs and students come to terms with the back-to-school arrangements.

“We cannot have a situation whereby children are unable to attend school because the state has failed to supply transport.

"I am personally aware of a number of cases whereby this is exactly what is happening – it cannot be allowed to continue and it is imperative that the Minister and her department supply the funding to increase capacity immediately – it is not good enough for children to have to wait weeks – the school year has commenced,” he added.