School Transport
Seanad Éireann — 2026-02-10
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Linda Nelson Murray (FG), Industrial and Commercial Panel

I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive answer. I am glad he said that the pay needs to be worked on and that he took that away from our discussion on it last year. I acknowledge that he says this is an issue for the Department of Social Protection, but the Deputy is the Minister of State working with the bus escorts and that transport side of it, so it is about the two Departments liaising on it. They cannot wait five weeks in the summer to get paid. It just has to be looked at. I am glad to hear that we are working on it but I urge the Minister of State to try to improve on this for this summer. To think that they could get paid when they finish up work would be fantastic.
With the greatest respect to the Minister of State, before he states that he does not personally want this in schools, does he not think we should research it first? If you actually go out and ask the principals and the vice principals of the schools, they do not want to manage the bus escorts. The Minister of State talks about taking that away and says it is an extra layer of bureaucracy, but it will allow them to do more within the schools. It is not something I personally feel; I listen to them, and that is what they are coming back with. They would love to have some sort of transport co-ordinator - I am not saying in every school. I have not researched every school in the country. However, is it something we should look at, maybe talking to them about it?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-02-10/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:36+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-10