An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business
Dail Éireann — 2022-09-20
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Claire Kerrane (SF), Roscommon-Galway

I have heard what the Taoiseach has said on the issue I raise but I am really at my wits' end in trying to get answers from Bus Éireann for parents in Roscommon and Galway regarding school transport. I acknowledge the waiving of fees. It would have been a roaring success had the capacity been put in to make it work. It would have worked very well. I have one case, for example, involving a child whose mother died last year. The mother would usually have done the application and Bus Éireann told the father that, under the circumstances, it would issue a ticket. That ticket has not issued and I cannot even get hold of someone in Bus Éireann to get an update. I ring Athlone and Galway and am given a number for Dublin. When I ring Dublin, nobody can speak to me because of the general data protection regulation. The communication has been really poor. I do not know whether additional resources were put into Bus Éireann before the announcement on waiving school transport fees was made. It has been a real mess. I ask, in regard to additional capacity for school transport and also in respect of communication, particularly with parents, that things be done far better as we move forward.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2022-09-20/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:51:02+00:00
Sitting date: 2022-09-20