I have called on the Minister for Education to intervene and immediately sort out the school bus fiasco.

I have received calls from hundreds of parents who have been refused bus tickets despite their willingness to pay for the tickets.

I have been contacted by schools who are encountering difficulties with up to 20% of students affected by the loss of discretionary tickets in some cases.

The Minister needs to intervene in this mess which has been created solely by her Department.

There was no forward planning and parents are facing the prospect of having to give up work in order to bring their children to school.

It is having a massive effect on families and schools and needs immediate action.

The announcement by the Minister to provide free school transport is resulting in many students across the county now being denied a school bus tickets.
This is because the uptake by qualifying children for the free bus has increased substantially and there are no places left for children to be accommodated on the discretionary basis.

I have contacted the Minister’s office and the Taoiseach’s office to try to get a solution as a matter of urgency.