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MINISTER FOR EDUCATION Norma Foley has said it’s “quite a logistical challenge” to provide transport for secondary school students with buses set to run at 50% capacity following advice from NPHET.
Foley said up to 1,600 buses are required to ensure secondary school students can get to school, and that the government is working on providing this transport as “quickly as possible”.
Speaking to RTÉ Radio One’s Morning Ireland programme, the minister suggested that if parents of children who are eligible to travel on a school bus wish to organise alternative transport in the meantime “they will be recompensed for doing that”.
New guidelines issued by the government earlier this week urged the public to avoid the use of public transport where possible.
It had previously planned to run school buses at full capacity when pupils return this month, but to have students wear face coverings to help stop the spread of Covid-19.
“Discussions are already underway with Bus Éireann… in order to implement measures so that any services that can operate from the start of the school year at 50% capacity will do so,” a spokesman for the department said.
School transport for primary students are unaffected by the latest advice from NPHET.
When pressed on if all of these services will be available in time for schools re-opening next week, Foley said today that efforts were being made to roll out capacity as “speedily as possible”, it is also “quite a logistical challenge to do that immediately”.
“We’re talking about an additional 1,600 buses,” she said. “Some buses will operate at that next week but we’ll be rolling it out as quickly as we can.”
Minister Foley also suggested that if parents of eligible children wanted to make alternative arrangements for their child to get to school in the meantime, they’d be recompensed.
She also she was “very conscious” of the “phenomenal” work being put in by schools to ensure they can re-open safely next week, adding school communities were working “night and day”.
Foley also said she was confident every child will be able to return to school next week, even if they’re in a country with additional restrictions such as Kildare.
Later today, it is expected that the restrictions places on Laois and Offaly will be lifted but will remain in place for Kildare,
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Private buses brought into service need a lot of safety, road-wirthiness documentation? And new drivers on the school bus system probably need Garda-vetting?
@longstrides: 100% they will need Garda vetting that takes weeks
@longstrides: Every driver will have to he vetted. But the maintenance side of things should not be a problem. The paperwork and detail that goes into maintenance is actually down to every last detail.
@longstrides: wait till its in the school we will see herresign next
@Alan Watts: garda vetting is actually less than a week now. Applied on a Saturday and received full cert the following Thurs.
@Fiona Ryan: yeah I know it’s got quicker there’s lots of new bus drivers needed I’m not sure many will already be Garda better that’ll be a surge on the system the minister is suggesting next week
So we are asked to avoid public transport but yet the children can the travel on them. What a joke.
Good job the Minister has a penchant for oversized necklaces…she’s about to be in hot water way over head and needs all the support can get.
Don’t see how they can stand over this based on recent restrictions. Totally inconsistent with the “advice” that they keep promoting.
@Adam Conroy:
Kildare is going to be the test tube for this madness. Lockdown extended but kids will still be going back to school at the end of the month. Lunacy. I’m assuming the politicians will be back sitting in the Dáil for longer than two hours at a time, rather than the very expensive conference centre. But sure we all know that won’t be the case, because their health is more important than the health of teachers and the children and parents with a compromised health status.
Are all her imaginary buses coming from the same she’s getting her imaginary sub teachers/SNAs?
Madness to swap ministers that shortly before reopening schools and still don’t have everything done and dusted the week before.
To put this “logistical challenge” in context, Bus Éireann has a fleet of 1,200 vehicles. From where is the extra capacity to be sourced?
@KO’S: maybe the govt could buy a new fleet of electric buses, and later retire the old diesel over that are damaging the environment? #silverlinings
@Maryrose Lyons: they will do well to source 1,600 electric buses by Monday week love. Also what money tree are you using and where did you get it from so that I can look into getting one for myself
@KO’S: You do realise that Bus Éireann subcontract out the school services for tender. They don’t actually own the buses. There are no service routes or tours happening. So there are a lot of coach fleets parked up doing nothing. Bus companies will be only too glad.
@Maryrose Lyons: away the fairies with ya
Seven months in still NO PLAN
Before the pandemic transport for school children was a major source of controversy. Now a week before the schools reopening next week “It becomes a Logistical problem “. Stumbling from one crisis to another.
@Donal Desmond: just wait for the LC results to come out
My dogs name is Norma
@Ruth: can she drive a bus ?
@Ruth: maybe she could ‘woofle’ up a few new buses!
@Martin Woods: unfortunately she’s still on a pawvisional licence
She didn’t inspire confidence listening to her this morning.
Ahhh, the auld political mantra “Confident”….but can we be confident the schools will remain open given the way the building are being crammed wall-to-wall and to the rafters as normal.
Just passing a girls school yesterday the thought that 1000 people will be in that old building everyday for five days a week without proper distancing?, can we be “confident” the schools will remain open under those circumstance?
@Spartacus Ireland: the only solid undertaking is that the schools will re-open. They will re-open them, I’m sure.
Then what?
Throwing money at bus companies instead of spending that money on reducing class sizes. Go, Norma, in every sense of the word!
@Ger McDonnell: eh, Norma, you realise that you’re Minister for Education, and not Transport?
I am confident that she is not confident.
What a joke! Classrooms are not distanced correctly from what I’ve seen. Students still crammed in. No Perspex divide between teacher and students. It’s an absolute mess
Nice of her to finally show her presence. She has shown no tangible leadership but expects everything to just fall into place next week.
If I had children at school at present I would drive them there myself thus making more room on buses for children who must travel on the bus. Every little helps.
@Aine O Connor: Aldo the Minister stated that parents who use their own cars would be given an incentive to do so.
@Aine O Connor: Until the Greens find out
Well if my child needed to get to school in this current climate, I would make a plan.. since when did we all expect the government to do everything for us, the school should be ready because the teachers and parents should make sure it’s ready , why keep waiting waiting waiting and throwing up obstacles at every turn for the minister to sort for them. Now there are not enough busses,nor can there be enough busses to fulfil this social distancing, so now make a plan yourselves. Children who can walk, walk, children who can get a lift , get it. And leave the small number of bus spaces to those who really need it. But get your children back to school. We are a great country, we should not be acting like children in trying to solve this.. get it done. And stop expecting others to solve all.
@Patricia O’Reilly: well done on taking a lot of sense
@Caddyshack: talking
@Caddyshack: taking was correct!! Taking sense and throwing it out the window!!
Traffic congestion is already a nightmare during school run times. They waited a week before school is due to announce this! How do they expect schools to arrange this in time.fs
Why isn’t the return to school optional??? Its a horror show to force parents to send their darlings into a school with no social distancing. Line them up and send them in. Ignore the pandemic. Unbelievable.
@Imagine !: You can ask the principal to keep your child enrolled as a remote learner. I will be sent work to do from the teacher each week. I had arrange for this as we have medically vulnerable people in the house. You can also register for home schooling by emailing homeeducation@tusla.ie but that means you are off the school’s register. Both options are out there. HTHs
Cases rising.
Norma Foley: “Let’s throw everyone’s children into a combined space all day and see what happens”.
Are all kids really going back??? In my daughters secondary school TY’s are being home schooled! How on earth can TY’s be home schooled?
@CarlAnne Greene: that is not true. Stop listening to rumours
@CarlAnne Greene: TY is basically just a doss year anyway
Best thing Norma could do now is to cancel the whole reopening, step down and let somebody competent take over. This woman is putting her political career ahead of the welfare of our children. I don’t trust anything she says. I fear that those who do place their trust in her may find themselves in very grave situations over next few months. It’s very clear this government is Roslyn out of its depth, well at least the FF side anyway. FG are practically washing there hand of the situation. New election required which Fine Gael would win, and let them deal with the emergency in the short term.
Sorry now, but it’s called forward planning. It’s not like they only had a weeks notice about schools.
Welcome to the new Norma
Laughing stock.
When it comes to this government and C-19 ,its like them trying to put a square peg into a round hole.
I have severe doubts like everyone else and think this is a train wreck waiting to happen but good luck to the minister and schools, it’d certainly be nice if this all worked out successfully somehow….
The panic brigade are in flying form this morning
Omg this was all sorted out, why with a week till school opening put a spaner in the works ? What ever is NPHET going to come up with next?
@Heisen berg1: The next move after schools reopen will be to open the pubs then when spikes start to increase in schools they will blame the pubs.
Not a chance I’d send my kid
@Ivan Ó Sirideáin: to school?
Might be a blessing in disguise for the obese children that the government were so concerned about several months ago
So that’s what a Norma Foley looks like
@Bennett blaster: I thought it was Enya!
A “challenge” did she mean impossibility?
All it takes is for Ryan to wake up and withdraw from government
Walk to school, make Greta proud,
Back in my day i had to walk 1 hour bare-foot to a freezing cold classroom, rain/hail it didnt matter…not really though was more like a 20 min walk but the shoes were so effin uncomfortable hahaha
Bus Eireann run a lot of 50 seater school coaches at half capacity anyway (old express way buses when a mini bus would have been able to the job) . A lot of private operators buses idle too , capacity will be a challenge bus do-able . Going to cost a lot extra money tho
but loads of schools aren’t returning next week?
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