School bus service changes labelled as 'a tax on rural Ireland' [Independent.ie]
- Published: 16 June 2011
CHANGES to the rules governing the provision of school bus services have come under fire from parents who have described new charges for pupil transport as 'a tax on rural Ireland.'
Furthermore, one parent who sends three of her children to Kildorrery National School says the changes may force her to send her fourth child to a different school in another parish when he joins Junior Infants next year.
Under the previous Primary School Transport scheme, pupils were eligible for free transport if they lived 3.2 kilometres or more from their nearest national school. A loophole known as the Closed School Rule (CSR) established in 1968 provided free transport for children regardless of how close they lived to their place of education in the event that their nearest school was closed or amalgamated with another school.
The last budget abolished the CSR for pupils starting school from September 2012 however, meaning that children who are living less than 3.2km from their school who would have been entitled to free transport will now be subject to a fee.
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