Rhode children denied school bus transport to Edenderry

Up to 12 secondary school children living in the Rhode area, who wish to attend second level in Edenderry, are currently being denied school bus transport it has emerged. It is understood that families were contacted earlier this week and informed that there will be no transport available to them, despite some having availed of it in previous years.

It is also reported that one family is being denied access to bus transport because they were one week late with a payment. That’s according to Sinn Féin spokesperson on Education and Skills Carol Nolan, who says the 12 young people were contacted by Bus Éireann.

“One of the children in question is being refused transport on the basis that his parents were one week late in paying for the service,” the TD for Offaly and North Tipperary said on Thursday. 

“This contradicts Minister of State, John Halligan’s public commitment that no child would lose their school bus seat pending a review of the school transport system,” the Sinn Fein deputy continued.

Local councillor Liam Quinn says he has been working with families during the course of the week, liaising with the Department of Transport and the Department of Education, in attempt to see the situation successfully resolved.

“It appears as if there has been a gradual increase in students from this area wishing to attend school Edenderry. I contacted the inspector on Monday to try and get to the bottom of this as there is a bus route still there, so there will have to be additional transport provided for these children if that is what is the problem here.

“To be fair to Bus Éireann, when similar issues arose in the past with primary school children, we have always been able to reach a solution.

“There is a policy that children need to attend their nearest school, but there is much of a muchness between Rochfortbridge and Edenderry, so I can’t see what the problem is - it’s a thing of nothing,” the Fine Gael councillor commented. Unworkable.

Meanwhile, Deputy Nolan said the rules introduced that state a child must be attending their nearest school in order to be eligible for school transport, are simply not workable in practice.

“This has led to a significant increase in the number of children availing of concessionary transport and it appears that there is a policy in the Department of Education to restrict this.

“The funding allocated to School Transport for 2016 is on the basis of 2,000 less students receiving school transport, despite increasing numbers in the school population,” said Dep Nolan who added she will be part of a cross party group set up to examine school bus transport policies seeking to reform the current rules.