‘Crisis point’ - School bus chaos across Waterford
Families have been “failed and forgotten” across Waterford due to a lack of school bus places.
The ongoing problem has being impacting families particularly in the west of the county.
Explaining the issue, Deputy Conor McGuinness said the situation had reached crisis point, with children left without seats on buses and parents forced to scramble for private transport options at huge cost.
“I was on a Zoom call last night with up to 20 parents from west Waterford alone. In Ballymacarbry, 11 children have been refused tickets to get a school bus to Dungarvan” he said.
“Appeals were dismissed with copy-and-paste replies. In fact, two of the 11 belatedly got tickets a couple of weeks after term started, with no rationale given as to why they were chosen while the others were left behind. Children have been stranded even though there are seats on the bus.”
He added that in Ardmore, Grange and Kinsalebeg, families were told at the very last minute that their children had no seat, even after using the service for years.
Resultingly, children are cycling dark country roads or leaving class early to catch Local Link buses.
In Lismore and the surrounding area, parents were issued tickets for stops miles away from their homes, Deputy McGuinness said.
“It’s the same story from the Comeraghs to Dungarvan, dysfunction, confusion and distress, made worse by the complete lack of communication from Bus Éireann and the Department” he added.
Deputy McGuinness also highlighted the impact on children with additional educational needs, saying, “families who fought hard to secure school places for their children with special educational needs are now being left high and dry with no transport. It’s disgraceful. This is happening in Waterford and right across the State,” he said.
Deputy Conor McGuinness has sharply criticised the Government over what he described as “chaos and dysfunction” in the school transport system.
“The Minister of State does not need me to tell him that the school transport system is in chaos across this State, but I will do it anyway,” he said.
“Families in my constituency of Waterford are being failed. The system is broken. Parents are exhausted, angry and frustrated. Children are left without a safe and reliable way to get to school.”
“This dysfunction cannot be allowed to continue. Families deserve certainty, not chaos. Children deserve a seat on the bus and not another year of neglect,” he said.
“The Government must act now to fix this broken system and ensure every child in Waterford and across the State can get safely to school.”
