Galway East Sinn Féin’s Louis O’Hara has warned that children in Galway will again be turned away from school transport this year due to a failure by the Government to recognise demand and invest in extra capacity.
His party is calling for 10,000 extra places to be funded and made available to help meet demand across the country.
O’Hara said that over the past week many parents across Galway have been notified that they have failed to secure a seat for their child on the local school bus.
He said that every year the School Transport Scheme is significantly over-subscribed and instead of harnessing this demand, the Government ‘sit on their hands and let the situation repeat itself, year after year’.
“This causes huge problems for parents in Galway who are trying to juggle their work commitments.
“While the decision by Government to eliminate school transport fees for the 2022/2023 school year is welcome, it does nothing to address the capacity constraints. More needs to be done.”
Sinn Féin has called for 10,000 extra seats to be added to the system across the State, in addition to investing in new school buses and eliminating school transport fees.
O’Hara said that this would make a real difference to the lives of families in Galway and ensure these pressures do not occur every year.
“By expanding this scheme, we can cut transport emissions, reduce dangerous traffic congestion outside schools, while providing families with a convenient method of transport for their children.”
