School Transport
Seanad Éireann — 2026-05-20
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Gareth Scahill (FG), Nominated by the Taoiseach

I thank the Minister of State. I spoke with the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, last night, who will give me a more direct answer on this matter. I have always found him very approachable on this issue. I am happy to work with him on it. Like myself, the Minister of State is from a rural area. He sees the school transport to and from schools on a daily basis. These eight-seaters will not meet the demand for SEN transport. Capacity for wheelchairs is severely limited in these smaller vehicles. I must commend Councillor John Reilly on coming up with this practical idea from lived experience both as a driver and as a parent using the service. We are talking about 16-seater transit vans, not massive minibuses, but the opportunity and capacity that would open up for SEN students to get to and from schools is something that needs to be addressed. I look forward to working with the Minister of State on that.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-05-20/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:58+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-20