Reforms 'needed to change transport system for school kids'

Posted by SchoolDays Newshound on 21/04/2011. Reforms 'needed to change transport system for school kids'

Tags: Education And Politics

There need to be changes made to the transport system for children in primary and secondary schools, according to a report.

The Coach Tourism & Transport Council (CTTC) of Ireland has stated that if the state made changes to the Bus Eireann and school transportation services, it could save in the region of more than 40 million euros, the Irish Times reports.

According to the group, there is a "conflict of interest" for Bus Eireann operating more than 500 buses owned by the Department of Education and running the School Transport Scheme.

This was set up to enable children who live far away from their educational premises to receive transport to their primary school.

However, the CTCT believes the initiative should instead be run by the National Transport Authority.

This comes after the government introduced an annual charge for kids using the transport in its 2011 Budget earlier this year.

Written by Donal Walsh ADNFCR-2163-ID-800509514-ADNFCR

Comments

Gerry Mullins

(22-04-2011 08:35)

Hello Donal,
It's good to see that you have picked up on our report and relayed it to the readers at SchoolDays.ie

However, there is a lot more to the story as it applies to parents sending their children to school by bus.

We believe that the Dept of Education overpays Bus Eireann to run the School Transport Scheme by more than 13m. This extra money, it seems, may be used to support other activities at Bus Eireann, including Expressway services.

If that extra 13m was used to offset School Transport fees, every child in Ireland would travel on the Scheme for free (current fees from parents total around 8.4m per year).

I will be happy to take questions on the matter.

Thanks,

Gerry Mullins
Chief Executive, Coach Tourism & Transport Council
Tel. 086-0209727