“A bit of flexibility and common sense,” Mayo TD raises school bus seat shortage affecting Newport families

Mayo TD Rose Conway-Walsh has called on the Government to address school transport difficulties affecting families in Newport, where pupils are unable to secure seats on buses to Davitt College in Castlebar.

Speaking in the Dáil yesterday (Tuesday, October 20), Deputy Conway-Walsh said Rice College in Westport was over capacity, leaving some families in Newport with no option but to seek places for their children at Davitt College.

However, she said there was no school bus provision available to accommodate the students, despite buses already operating on the route.

“We should not have to be fighting for seats on buses for children these days,” Deputy Conway-Walsh said.

She added parents were facing difficulties because their nearest school was oversubscribed, while their children wanted to attend Davitt College but could not secure seats on existing school transport services.

The Sinn Féin urged the Taoiseach to examine the situation and called for greater flexibility and common sense to ensure the pupils could access transport.

“It is a real, live situation in Newport that needs to be solved,” she said. “I am asking for a bit of flexibility and common sense on this so that children can get seats on the bus.”

Deputy Conway-Walsh added that the lack of transport was also affecting parents’ ability to manage their working and family lives.

In response, the Taoiseach said he would raise the issue with Minister of State for Transport, Jerry Moynihan, who has responsibility for school transport.

He cautioned, however, that changes made to accommodate pupils in one area could have wider implications.

“People talk about common sense and flexibility, but what is done in one area can create a lot of unintended consequences elsewhere, create a precedent or create challenges,” he said.

The Taoiseach also highlighted the growing cost of school transport, noting that nearly half of the budget was spent on special education transport.

“The expenditure on school transport has grown exponentially, particularly for special education,” he said. “Nearly 50 percent of the school transport budget is spent on special education, which is fine, but it has grown. We have to make sure that we are fair across different systems.”

He insisted the Government needed to ensure fairness across different school transport arrangements and asked Deputy Conway-Walsh to send the details of the Newport situation to Minister Moynihan.

He added that he would refer to the issue raised by the Mayo TD.