School transport - Outdated scheme needs an overhaul

The Oireachtas Committee on Education and Science has an opportunity to instil a semblance of commonsense into a subject which has not been reviewed for 40 years and which has been a source of grievance to parents every year.

They are the school transport boundaries which the committee will consider and issue recommendations on, after hearing submissions from interested parties and conducting public hearings.

The committee, comprised of cross-party Dáil deputies and senators, intends to issue its recommendations before the General Election, muted to be in May.

It is sincerely hoped that the question of these boundaries do not become a political football because they are a very real issue for those parents with school-going children and who depend on buses — and more importantly who are excluded from them.

The school transport system carries about 135,000 students to schools at a cost of €165 million this year in its primary and post-primary transport scheme but for some inexplicable reason the Department of Education has not reviewed it in four decades.

By ignoring it, officials have ignored the fact that during that time society has changed and that the scheme needs a thorough overhaul.

Every year, without fail, the current scheme is the subject of numerous complaints and appeals to the department, where they largely fall on deaf ears.

Interested parties will have until February 23 to make submissions and make sure that their voices are heard in this controversial, but vital, subject.