Anton McNulty
Changes to the Primary School Transport Scheme criteria and the introduction of new charges, due to be introduced in September, constitute another ‘tax on the family’, according to Sinn Féin councillor Rose Conway-Walsh (pictured).
The Erris-based councillor said the ‘punitive’ school-transport charges will see families forced to pay €50 a year for each eligible child, to a maximum of €110 for each family or a maximum of €650 per family where children are also using the post-primary transport scheme.
The changes to the scheme, which were introduced in the last budget, will also result in the minimum number of eligible pupils in a locality required to establish a bus service increase from seven to ten. Cllr Conway-Walsh said that if these new measures are introduced as proposed next September they will result in cuts in routes in the Erris and other regions.
Speaking to The Mayo News, Cllr Conway-Walsh said that the reality of the new measures may only set in for families next September, when it is too late to do anything about them, and she is calling on families and communities to organise and put pressure on Government representatives to reverse these new measures.
“These new measures have to be reversed – and it can be done. It is an example of another way of taxing rural families, no more, no less. The Government wants families to provide their own transport and cut as many routes as possible,” she said.
Cllr Conway-Walsh added that these measures would continue the ‘erosion’ of rural villages and was moving the country further away from the provision of and access to free primary education. “There is huge demand on parents as it is, and primary-school education is far from free. Grants are being cut, and families are already making contributions for books and uniforms,” she said.
The councillor concluded by pointing out that the changes to the school-transport scheme make no sense during a recession: “Making it difficult for children to attend school is not the way to go in this country because it is education that will get us out of this mess.”
For more information on the changes to the School Transport Scheme, visit www.citizensinformation.ie.
Main changes to Primary School Transport Scheme
• Introduction of an annual charge
• Removal of eligibility under the ‘Central/Closed School Rule’ for certain children within 3.2 km of school
• Minimum of ten eligible children now required to set up or keep a school transport service
