Parents criticise Minister for change to school transport [IrishTimes]
- Published: 29 June 2011
A GROUP of parents who hosted a public meeting in Listowel, Co Kerry, about changes to the school transport system yesterday expressed their anger at the attitude of Minister of State at the Department of Education Ciarán Cannon.
Mr Cannon, who had attended the meeting, has refused to row back on the proposals for the service brought in by the previous government.
A series of meetings around the country is now planned, with the first to take place in Galway on July 11th, a spokeswoman for a group of primary school parents said yesterday. At the public meeting in Listowel on Monday night, attended by 400 parents drawn from west Waterford, west Cork, south Kerry, and Limerick, the Minister said he could not row back on the proposals. He said the cost of the school transport system amounted to €180 million, or €1 million per school day.
Bus Éireann runs the school transport system on behalf of the Department of Education, using local contractors mainly.
The changes on foot of the last budget include a €50 charge per primary school child, up to a maximum of €110 per family. The cost for secondary school children will rise to a maximum of €650 per family.
Full Story: www.irishtimes.com
