Whitmore Warns Of Back To School Bus Chaos

Otto!

atest press release from Jennifer Whitmore TD, issued on Monday, 26th August 2024…

Social Democrats TD for Wicklow, Jennifer Whitmore has spoken out about the back-to school bus chaos faced by many Wicklow parents again this year.

“I’ve been contacted by a large number of worried parents who again find themselves being let down by the school transport scheme with very little notice being given of certain school buses not operating this week. Yet again, we are seeing a repeat of previous years’ back-to-school bus chaos in Wicklow, which is unacceptable,” commented Deputy Whitmore, who is the Social Democrats spokesperson for Children.

Deputy Whitmore’s statement comes in response to some parents receiving emails from Bus Éireann Thursday informing them that their children’s bus routes would not be in operation when schools return this week. This is a repeat of the situation last year which saw many of the same school bus routes not in operation till mid-December, and in one case Easter.

“These school bus routes not operating has a huge impact on the affected families. Parents are again having to juggle work, commuting and school timetables while children are worrying about how they are going to get to and from school instead of looking forward to their new school year. This is an especially difficult and challenging situation for families living in our more rural parts of the county, which have significantly fewer transport alternatives,” explained Ms Whitmore.

“We are aware of at least 11 school bus routes in Wicklow which parents received emails about last week. This does appear to be an evolving situation as parents on two of these routes received emails late on Friday evening saying that a bus operator had been confirmed and their routes would be operating in time for schools returning. However, this leaves at least 9 affected school bus routes which are so far not operating this week due to Bus Éireann being unable to secure bus operators for the routes before schools return,” Ms Whitmore further explained.

“My office has also been contacted by a huge number of families who, with very short notice have been informed that their children will not be receiving school bus tickets this year due to a lack of capacity on certain bus routes. This issue arises every year and every year I ask that the Department expand the capacity of school bus service in Wicklow. Still, the Minister for Education has not delivered these much-needed school bus seats.”

“I have written to Bus Éireann and the Minister for Education, whose department has responsibility for overseeing the School Transport Scheme, asking for an urgent update on all the affected school bus routes. I have also raised the issue of the lack of capacity on several bus routes across Wicklow and the urgent need to increase the number of school bus places provided,” commented Deputy Whitmore.

“It is unfair that parents who were on time with their applications and payments for bus tickets last April are now being told at this late stage that they must find alternatives for their families. Last year, we saw some students not get their school bus routes in place until May 2024, having been waiting since September. That cannot be allowed to happen again, and I will continue to work with Wicklow parents to try to avoid that at all costs.”

“I have repeatedly raised the problems with the School Transport Scheme with the Minister for Education and Bus Éireann and asked them to introduce measures to avoid these disruptions and stress for families.”

“It is unacceptable that the Department did not learn from last year’s problems and has allowed the same issues to cause this upset again. Measures have not been implemented to avoid this, such as the provision of training courses to ensure the availability of qualified bus drivers and buses and the increase of capacity on bus routes by assigning extra buses or larger capacity coaches for the busier routes.”

“I am calling on the Minister to do everything she possibly can in the coming days to resolve this issue as a matter of urgency,” concluded Ms Whitmore.