School Transport
Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-14
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Joanne Collins (SF), Agricultural Panel

I thank the Minister of State. My apologies; I probably should have given the specifics but I have been back and forth to the Minister of State's office a bit on this. My one ask is that he might look at the criterion about the closest school geographically. The closest school for these children is the school they are most connected to, which would be Rathkeale.
That is where their sports and social clubs are and where all their friends go. A lot of these children would have been eligible for and would have used transport to primary school. However, because they are going a little further away to secondary school, they seem to be ineligible for transport.
I would appreciate if the Minister of State could indicate whether there is any leeway on the eligibility requirement that pupils attend their closest school. Could that be amended such that the closest school may be defined as the school to which they feel closest or are most linked to, rather than just the closest school geographically?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-07-14/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:52:15+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-14