Waterford TDs say Government's school bus chaos is failing Waterford families

Sinn Féín TDs, Deputies Conor McGuinness and David Cullinane have called for a fundamental overhaul of the school transport system, saying families across Waterford are facing uncertainty and unnecessary stress due to the recurring school bus chaos every school year.

An online public meeting was held on Monday, July 27, at which Deputy McGuinness spoke with dozens of parents from across the county about ongoing problems with bus places, bus routes and capacities across Waterford County.

After the meeting, Deputy McGuinness said: “There is enormous frustration among parents. Families are dealing with uncertainty, inconsistency, and poor communication at a time when they should be looking forward to the new school year. Instead, many still do not know how their children will get to school."

He said he is working with scores of parents across Waterford to resolve the school bus chaos rampant across the county at this time of the year.

Although the problems are widespread, some areas of Waterford seem to be harder hit than others, including Ardmore and Grange, Ballymacarbry, the Lismore and Blackwater Valley area, Kilrossanty and parts of Butlerstown to Dunhill.

“In many cases, these problems come down to a lack of resources, with insufficient buses or capacity available. In others, there is a clear level of mismanagement. Whatever the cause, the result is the same: every year families are forced to endure the same chaos, uncertainty and frustration," said Deputy McGuinness.

Meanwhile, Deputy Cullinane also spoke out against the Government's current school transport system, publishing Sinn Féin's plan to reform and expand school transport on Tuesday, July 28.

Deputy Cullinane said: “The current system is no longer fit for purpose. It is based on outdated eligibility rules and has failed to keep pace with population growth, new housing developments and increasing school enrolments.” 

“Sinn Féin believes we need a modern school transport system that expands capacity, increases the number of buses and routes, and provides certainty for families," he said.

"We also need to phase out the restrictive distance criteria that unfairly excludes many children from accessing school transport.” 

He said Sinn Féin’s new country-wide school transport plan promises to benefit students and parents while helping to reduce traffic, by adding 100,000 school bus places and reducing the distance criteria from 3.2km to 1km for primary school pupils and from 24.8km to 2km for secondary school students.

Deputy Cullinane added that the plan also promises to keep the current school transport charges in place, by investing over €250 million to increase school bus places and allow more students to avail of the scheme.

Deputy Cullinane urged parents in Waterford having trouble with school bus places and transport in their area to contact him, saying: "Your experiences will help strengthen the case for the changes that families deserve. Together, we can build a fairer school transport system that puts children and families first."