Lack of school transport creating 'barriers to education', says Cork TD

Lack of school transport creating 'barriers to education', says Cork TD

Labour’s education spokesman Eoghan Kenny said issues with the school transport system are leaving families stranded. Picture: Stephen Collins/Collins

Parents are being forced to cut back their hours or leave their jobs entirely, as they cannot secure a school bus for their child, a Cork TD has claimed.

Labour’s education spokesperson and TD for Cork North Central Eoghan Kenny said issues with the school transport system are leaving families stranded.

In Cork, Glenville and Rahan are again without a dedicated service, Mr Kenny said.

In September 2022, two students from Glenville hit the headlines for driving to their secondary school in a tractor after failing to secure a bus place.

Friends Donal Sheehan and Ciaran O’Leary started commuting 34km daily in their tractors from Glenville to their secondary school in Fermoy.

Mr Kenny said the area is no closer to securing a dedicated school bus route. Issues with the school bus system are widespread again this year, he added.

“Particularly in rural areas, where some schools are not considered the ‘feeder’ school, they are leaving jobs. 

“Or, in the majority of cases I have come across, they are cutting back hours.” 

Issues with the school transport system continue to affect both rural and urban areas, Mr. Kenny said.

Glenville is one area in particular where they have applied for a school bus and nothing seems to be coming. There are over 20 students there that have applied this year.

“There’s another 46 students in Rahan,” he said, adding that he has raised these concerns with minister for education Helen McEntee.

“It’s unbelievable. We should be encouraging more families to use buses to get to school but we’re actually preventing it from happening.” 

The school bus system “simply isn’t working”, he said.

School transport is supposed to remove barriers to education, yet right now it is creating them. 

“Parents are scrambling to arrange lifts, relying on neighbours, or driving long distances themselves because the service has failed them.” 

Mr Kenny called for a complete overhaul of the school transport system.

“Not minor tweaks or sticking-plaster fixes. The current criteria, capacity limits and appeals process are outdated and unfit for purpose. The demand for places has outgrown the system, and families are paying the price."

The department of education did not respond to a request for comment. Minister of State for special education Michael Moynihan earlier this summer said the phased implementation of the school transport scheme review began last September, including 14 pilot projects, adding:

“It is intended to continue current pilots for the upcoming school year. They will be monitored during the year and a further evaluation will take place at the end of the 2025/2026 school year." 

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