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Costs for school transport 'could double'
Posted by SchoolDays Newshound on 07/11/2011.
Tags: Education And PoliticsNew plans from the government could see the cost of transport for primary school children double from next year.
The Department of Education is considering proposals to increase charges for individual pupils from 50 euros to 100 euros, while the maximum costs for families with more than one child will increase from 110 euros to 220 euros, the Irish Examiner reports.
Currently, around 36,000 primary school students in the country use school transport, with 20,000 of these having to pay fees for the service.
The publication said rural families are likely to be hardest hit by the increases, which will look to cut 2 million euros from the Department of Education's budget.
It is expected that costs for secondary school pupils, which currently stand at a maximum of 650 euros per family, are also set to increase from the start of the next school year.
The news comes shortly after the Coach Tourism and Transport Council announced it is to ask the EU to investigate the government's contract with Bus Eireann for school transport to see if it breaks laws surrounding state aid.
Written by Donal Walsh
Roos Demol
(07/11/2011 12:26)
I have stopped using the school transport this year, because I can't afford it any more. ( secondary school) . So that is it now, if they increase even more, I think we should just all boycott the bustransport schemes and organise carpools.
Gerry Mullins
(08/11/2011 13:31)
Roos Demol's comment that calls for a boycott of the bus transport scheme and organising carpools instead is a pity but a predictable outcome of the cutbacks.
It is what the Department of Education wants, of course. The more parents that drop out, the more services they can cut back. Eventually, they will say that parents aren't interested in School Transport anymore and they will close it.
Wouldn't it be better to fight the cutbacks.