Sinn Féin TD for Wicklow, John Brady, has raised alarm at the return of the annual chaos surrounding school transport, stating that the Government has failed families across Wicklow by refusing to properly plan, resource and reform the school transport system.
Deputy Brady highlighted that the situation extends right across Wicklow, where long travel distances, limited public transport options and growing school populations mean families rely heavily on the school transport scheme.
Teachta Brady said:
“School transport is an essential public service for families across Wicklow, but every August parents are put through the same unnecessary stress.
“Families are left wondering if their child will have a seat on the bus, whether routes will have enough capacity, the necessary drivers to operate, or whether families will have to completely rearrange work and family life.
“To give just one example, I have heard from families in a single estate in Kilpedder where at least twelve children who travelled on the school bus to Coláiste Chraobh Abhann, Kilcoole, last year, have no seat for September.
“No family should be left facing this level of uncertainty just weeks before schools reopen.
“This is completely unacceptable, but disgracefully, it isn't a surprise.
“Similar situations arise every year because the Government has failed to prepare, failed to plan and failed to provide the resources needed to make the system work.
“Two years ago, we had the unbelievable scenario in which it took Government until it was seven months into the school year, before the school bus between Ashford and Wicklow Town was finally reinstated.
“The issue left 53 pupils effectively abandoned and without school transport.
“Families need reassurance that this year, Government and the Department will act with urgency to ensure that any issues are resolved promptly.
“This chaos leaves parents in limbo, unsure how their children will get to school, while trying to balance work and family commitments.
“The Government recently produced the most comprehensive review of the school transport scheme in decades. It identified the problems and pointed towards the solutions. Yet many of its recommendations remain on the shelf while families continue to face the same annual chaos.
“Government cannot keep pretending this is unexpected when it has become an annual feature of the school year.
“When school transport doesn't work, children struggle to get to school, parents struggle to get to work and family life is turned upside down. Families deserve certainty, not another year of confusion and frustration.
“Families across Wicklow deserve better.
“They deserve a school transport system that is properly planned, properly resourced and gives parents certainty before the school year begins.
“The Government must stop lurching from one school transport crisis to the next and finally deliver the reforms that families have been promised.”
ENDS