Linda Nelson Murray
Industrial and Commercial Panel · Fine Gael · Ireland
“Navan hospital always needs to be strengthened, not sidelined. We need investment in that to grow with the population that is growing in Meath, and that Meath people have a hospital that grows with their needs and does not fall behind. I am discussing this with the Minister for Health, Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill.”
“The Irish Cancer Society is in the news today. We met its representatives last week and had a very good engagement over in Buswells Hotel where they were giving us some numbers. I wanted to home in on bowel cancer. There are 2,500 people diagnosed with bowel cancer each year in Ireland.”
“We have had amazing debates in here from all sides of the Chamber. Everybody, without a shadow of a doubt, is a pleasure to work with. We can achieve things together whether we are in opposition or in government. I thank everybody. It is really nice to come in to the Chamber and I look forward to it every Tuesday.”
“I thank everybody in that group, particularly the Senators in this Chamber who worked on the group, because it is a day to be acknowledged. Hopefully, we will see it come through quickly. I want to follow on from that by asking the Leader to speak to the Minister, Deputy Calleary, who is working very hard on a baby loss register.”
“Senator Nicole Ryan and I, with other Senators, including Senators Patricia Stephenson, Tom Clonan and Evanne Ní Chuilinn, and many TDs - it was a complete cross-party Oireachtas group - came together and have been working on how to actually do this over the last year. Today is a very positive day for all of us in our group.”
“It was about a year ago that we had a very emotive debate in the House when Senator Nicole Ryan brought suggestions for a Bill on miscarriage leave. I was on this side of the House. It was very hard to actually be debating it when I think everybody in this House wanted to see something like that happen.”
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“Perhaps there should be dedicated times at which these emails come in so that children are not getting them at times when they do not want to see them. The National Youth Council of Ireland, an organisation that I have met with in the past, also got in touch with me this week. It representatives explained that sustained, long-term investment in offline youth work is essential to addressing online harms experienced by young people. Youth work organisations build trusted voluntary relationships that create safe offline spaces where young people can share their online experiences, receive accurate information and access non-judgmental support. This is critical and investment in our young people through these spaces is vital.”
“If we are going to put all of these controls on the online space and get companies to invest heavily in it, what are we going to do about the offline space to support our young people? Last Saturday, I was invited to a meeting of the Youthwork Ireland branch in Navan to talk to young people about life, politics and what is happening in Ireland right now. They raised with me the fact that young people really want the right to switch off. They said that if they are sitting at home on a Friday or Sunday evening and something pops up on an app from school or from a teacher, that can give rise to a feeling of anxiety in the pit of their stomach. They spoke of how they would like to be able to switch off from that.”
“I met a lady recently called Emer Mugisha, who developed a fantastic comic book called CyberDefenders, One Wrong Click. It allows children to read, in a dyslexia- and child-friendly way, about how just one click when playing a game can cause huge harm. As parents we always feel that we need to be doing more and keeping an eye all of the time on our children online, but sometimes educating children is key. Sometimes, when we think of the online space, we think of Snapchat, Facebook and X but young children are playing games on tablets and are just as vulnerable. We need guarantees from companies like Roblox that they have the best interests of our children in mind. Now I will move on to another issue and I support what Senator Tully said in this regard.”
“I thank Fianna Fáil for tabling this motion. I acknowledge that it is getting much cross-party support and has stimulated much debate here this morning. My colleague Deputy Keira Keogh has done a lot of work on online safety and, as she rightly says, the primary motivation and aim is securing our children's future. She has said that parents are doing their part in trying to protect their children from online dangers like pornography, cyberbullying and harmful algorithms that can lead to exploitation. Recently we have seen huge strides in online safety but we know that stronger age verification is the key to ensuring we keep young people safe online. There is overwhelming support for age limits and age verification and I urge the Government to do this in the shortest time possible.”
“If I take my own county of Meath, which seems to have been particularly hit, in quarter 4 of 2017, 9,400 children were seen in their school, but in quarter 4 of 2023, only 2,378 were seen. That is three quarters down in nine years. Counties Longford and Westmeath had a population of 142,000 people according to census 2022. They have 31 dentists contracted under the dental treatment services scheme, DTSS, but in Meath we only have 17 for a population of 240,000. Nationally we have a major problem but in County Meath we absolutely need a focus on public dentistry.”
“I thank the Minister of State. I appreciate emergency care is provided to children up to 16 years of age but we should not be letting them get to the emergency care situation. The teeth of primary schoolchildren who cannot afford to go to a private dentist are not going to be good. I feel really privileged that I could afford to go to a dentist, but if my children had to wait until sixth class, they would have no back teeth. There would be no enamel. They would be so uncomfortable and it would be emergency procedure after emergency procedure. Parents do not want to see their kids going through that because they do not want them turned off dentists and do not want them going through that pain. It is so important we get to the primary school age.”
“I have also heard her say our workforce is not working well enough and that dentists are moving into cosmetic treatments such as injectables and Botox treatments. How can we perhaps use our dental hygienists more? How can we get early screening and get dentists into our schools? How can we convince enough dentists to commit to public dentistry? The bright light here is that I really trust the Minister of State and the Minister, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill. I know they know what is going on. Highlighting this situation will ensure there is more pressure, more talk and more discussion about the situation, and I hope we can get the investment in it.”
“Our dental schools do not have the basic capacity to educate and train enough dental practitioners to meet population demands. Only half of the students who graduate here each year stay, given that most of them are international students, as the Minister of State knows. We need more investment in our colleges, and I very much welcome the opening of the dental education centre last year. We need specific training in other aspects of dentistry and we need to change the work permit rules for dentists and dental nurses. If we do not do this, I dread to think what will happen to our children's teeth in the future. I have heard the Minister, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, mention the need for prevention screening, cleaning and good habits.”
“When I explain it to parents, they often fear that their kids might also have it. White spots on the front of the teeth are a clear sign of it. My kids have had fissure seals and crowns. They have both had four teeth removed in hospital in their very young years. The cause of the condition is not entirely known. We have been researching it in Ireland over the last 20 years, but it can be due to a baby having a low birth weight, having been a C-section baby or having taken a lot of antibiotics in his or her first two years. I dread to think how many kids are suffering from this condition in Ireland and do not even know because a public dentist has not come to their school and they cannot afford to go to a private dentist.”
“Enamel is the outer, strong part of your teeth, and if it is not there, your teeth are not good. MIH affects approximately one in eight children in Ireland. Early detection is crucial to prevent further tooth damage and reduce the need for extensive restorative work. The defective enamel can lead to rapid tooth decay or crumbling. It is typically identified when children are aged around six or seven. MIH-affected teeth are often harder to numb, which means dentistry for these patients can be challenging and may require specialised care. As we can appreciate, it really is unpleasant. As a mammy, it is horrible to bring your kids into the dentist for these treatments. Now that my children have been diagnosed with this condition, I cannot believe the number of other children I know who have it.”
“A procedure will now have to be done for her daughter whereby she will have to be put under anaesthetic, even though she qualified for braces two years ago. In the public dental service, the lack of dentists has led to a situation where fewer than half of the children who should have been seen as part of the dental school programme have been seen. Children in parts of the country are facing a ten-year backlog. I am in the very lucky position where I have been able to bring my own kids to a private dentist, but my kids were diagnosed with molar incisor hypomineralisation, MIH, two years ago, an enamel defect affecting the first permanent molars and incisors. The enamel is softer than normal, leading to discolouration, increased sensitivity and the potential for chipping and decay.”
“In 1981, I had access to a dentist in school but in 2026, my children, aged ten and 11, have never seen a dentist in school. Apparently, children should be having check-ups in second, fourth and sixth classes, but they are not having the first of these until fourth year in secondary school. Dentists are saying they are being forced to choose between which children they believe are in most pain and which to treat first. Analysis from the Irish Dental Association shows we need an extra 500 dentists across the private and public sectors immediately. Ireland currently trains fewer dentists per capita than most OECD countries. A lady contacted my office. Her daughter was seen in May 2024 and put on the priority list for braces. She was told the dentist was working off the 2021 priority list. Her daughter will be 18 in December.”
“I welcome the Minister of State and thank her so much for coming in. I am going to talk about dental care, particularly in schools. Access to dental care is in crisis and staffing has become a very serious issue, with staff shortages the main concern for dentists and dental staff. In 2024, 65% of dentists were unable to recruit candidates for dentist positions. A quarter of dentists said they were not taking on any new private adult patients and a third stated they were not taking on any new child patients. My concern here, however, is about children. I can still remember the day so vividly when the dentist came into my school when I was six years old in 1981 and taught me how to brush my teeth and we got a lovely little colouring book.”
“We need to educate everybody about safety on our roads and about the impact when something goes wrong. That girl's family will never get over this and I imagine the family of the young man who knocked her down will never get over this either. No statistic can capture the human cost of these crashes. Each young life lost, like Mia Lily's, is a reminder that preventing road deaths is not just about data. It is about communities feeling safe to walk, cycle and to live without fear.”
“A signature feature there is the national traffic test for seventh and eighth-graders, which includes both a theory exam and a practical cycling test on a preset route. I commend the Road Safety Authority on helping schools to educate primary and secondary students, but I question whether this is done in every single school. Do our teenagers get real experience of driver and pedestrian safety? I see on the Road Safety Authority's website that it mentions that the junior cycle, which is for ages 12 to 16, on education and road safety was to commence in September 2025. I can only assume it has not because the website has not been updated since. This cannot be in a few, a handful or some schools; it has to be in every single school in the country.”
“Ireland has a road safety strategy aiming to halve road deaths by 2030, and has recently introduced lower speed limits on local and urban roads as part of this, but unless some very serious action is taken now with road safety education and Garda enforcement, we will see more deaths on our roads. When it comes to education, Lithuania runs a year-long learn to drive programme for high schoolers in collaboration with police and paramedics. Japan utilises kids' driving parks, where children learn traffic rules and receive a licence after a practical course. In Poland and Hungary, kids practise in driving safety parks. In the Netherlands, road safety is a compulsory part of the primary curriculum, often integrated into world orientation subjects.”
“I welcome the ambassadors. Last week in the Seanad, Fine Gael tabled a motion on road safety. Many of us spoke on it, including me, and it of course had cross-party support. Little did I think that, four days later, a 16-year-old girl, Mia Lily Keogh O'Keeffe, would be tragically killed in my hometown of Navan. As the mother of two young girls, I simply cannot imagine what that family are going through. Mia Lily was struck at a pedestrian crossing on the Slane Road in Navan. It was a hit and run. Her dog, Bowie, was also killed. These deaths are absolutely devastating. Over the weekend, there were seven road deaths across the island of Ireland.”
“This Bill will make teachers and SNAs feel a sense of comfort so that should anything happen, they will be looked after. However, it does not automatically prevent classroom injuries and will need clear implementation rules, adequate funding and wider preventative measures to be truly effective. I will not oppose the Bill. I congratulate Senator Harmon on bringing the Bill forward. Well done to her.”
“Should we be supplying more training for behaviour management and putting more resources into therapies in schools? I fully welcome the recent announcement of therapy services, which cannot come quickly enough. I also welcome the increase in SNAs on a year-on-year basis. Having made those points, I still consider that this Bill is very important. I would also try to improve in-classroom support, behaviour provisions and preventative staffing, working in parallel with this entitlement. I do not think there is one person in this room who does not value the work of SNAs and teachers. If there was, that person would be wrong. If you get injured in the course of work, in a job you have been trained to do and that you enjoy doing, you should get paid if something happens in the course of that employment.”
“It acknowledges that assaults and injuries are a workplace health and safety issue for people in the classroom, especially those in a special classroom where, unfortunately, physical aggression can occur through no fault of the child. Perhaps, through having this Bill enacted, better records might be kept, so we can further support policy development and resourcing for preventative measures. When a person knows they are valued and looked after that can really help their well-being and recovery. It is not always physical. We must, however, consider other aspects of the Bill, for example, the cost to the State and employers. School budgets are tight as it is. Is there potential for misuse? Are we better to put resources into having more teachers and SNAs?”
“A child in school broke bones in her hand but she did not get assault leave because she came to school the next day and the injury was not discovered until five days later. She has only been back at school since last Monday, and that leave has been taken out of her sick leave. I also mentioned that I am on the board of a special school and I see at first hand what teachers and SNAs do in the school. The advantages that I see in this Bill include expanded paid leave for teachers and SNAs injured while at work, and not just for a limited period. This provides wage security, and people know their job is there when they recover.”
“I thank Senator Harmon for bringing this Bill forward. Nothing ever becomes real until it is experienced. I know Senator Harmon has spoken to people who have experienced this, which is why she is so passionate about bringing the Bill forward. I spoke to her last week about it. Fair play to her. We all feel that. This is a very important Bill, which contains Parts dealing with injury leave for people who work in jobs that are nearly like a vocation. When it comes to SNAs, parents cherish the fact that their child has one and likewise with teachers. I will start by talking about a friend of mine who sent me a message last week. She said she was just out of a cast after four weeks.”
“The figures also show a stark gender imbalance. According to the Road Safety Authority, almost eight out of ten driver fatalities are male, as are six out of ten of those injured. Behind every statistic is a name. As Dr. Jamal so powerfully said on that day in November, this is not just about the person who dies but also the family left behind. Road safety is not simply about enforcement. It is about culture, responsibility and prevention. Volunteer organisations like the Rotary Club of Navan are doing remarkable work but life-saving education should not depend on volunteers alone. I welcome this Private Members' motion and I thank my colleagues for bringing it forward. If we truly believe in Vision Zero, we must treat road safety education as essential, not optional. Even one life lost on our roads is one too many.”
“A total of 25% of people arriving in emergency departments with severe injuries from a road accident were not wearing a seatbelt. Of all road fatalities in Ireland, 27% involved individuals not wearing seatbelts. A total of 17% of people admit to not wearing a seatbelt in the back seat. Beyond seatbelts, we must confront the broader challenges. Speed continues to be a factor in too many collisions. Mobile phone use while behind the wheel is another factor. Many fatalities occur on rural roads that young people use daily to travel to school, training, work and social activities. Another issue is young people driving tractors with massive slurry tanks - surely there should be some form of training on that. One in four people killed on Irish roads is aged between 16 and 25. Young drivers aged 18 to 24 have the highest collision rates.”
“The silence spoke volumes about the shock, reflection and genuine desire among those students to understand the consequences of dangerous driving. The Rotary Club of Navan has delivered that programme to more than 3,000 students. It is extraordinary work, the importance of which cannot be overstated. Meath County Council has supported the Rotary Club of Navan in that initiative but, sitting there last November, I could not help but think this surely is something that should be embedded in every school across the country, as my colleague Senator Scahill said. If we are serious about achieving zero deaths on our roads, we must begin with our young people. Some of the statistics shared this evening are truly shocking.”
“In November, I was invited by the Rotary Club of Navan to attend the Just 1 Life event, an event I know the Minister of State will go to, which is a powerful young driver awareness programme. Approximately 350 students filled the Solstice Arts Centre in Navan. The event featured deeply impactful presentations from An Garda Síochána, a roads policing sergeant, Dr. Ahmad Jamal, an on-call consultant at Our Lady's Hospital Navan and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, alongside a critical care nurse, ambulance call centre staff, members of the fire and rescue service and families who have experienced devastating loss caused by road traffic accidents. Nothing was softened. Nothing was held back. You could have heard a pin drop in that room.”
“This Bill, similarly, supports Ireland's vibrant arts, music and creative sectors ensuring that performers and producers are better protected and rewarded. It is important to recognise how these laws affect real artists. There are rapid technological changes affecting copyright today, especially developments in AI and digital platforms that create and disseminate content in ways that were unimaginable just a decade ago. Some creators feel that further reform is needed to make sure large digital platforms and AI systems respect their rights consistently and that our laws provide clear mechanisms for enforcement and transparency. However, right now this Bill represents meaningful progress. It honours creative labour, brings our laws into harmony with international standards and strengthens Ireland's place as a home for creators and culture.”
“Historically, some performers have been required to sign buyout contracts that give away their rights. These contracts can leave performers without ongoing payments even when the work continues to earn money. This Bill seeks to address that imbalance by giving performers the legal right to retain moneys that they rightly earn. As Irish director Dearbhla Walsh said when talking about the film industry, "I think Ireland is having a moment." She was referring to the film and TV sector in Ireland, which is set to contribute more than €1 billion to the economy annually and supports the equivalent of 10,000 full-time jobs. The growth of the Irish film industry has been attributed to three decades of sustained investment, support and training, along with generous tax incentives.”
“These changes help to ensure that performers have the legal protections and rights that Ireland is obliged to provide under EU and global law. It brings Irish law into proper alignment with EU directives and international treaties. It strengthens our cultural economy and reduces legal uncertainty, which is again very important. It honours creators by giving them a clearer and fairer way to share in the rewards that art generates. Under the proposed changes, the law will start from a presumption of a 50-50 split of the revenues between performers and producers unless an alternative is agreed, and it provides a fair dispute process if they cannot agree. This is designed to make sure performers get a fair share of income from users of their recordings.”
“A key positive in this Bill is that it strengthens equitable remuneration for performers and producers of sound recordings. It clarifies how moneys earned from the use of recordings should be shared. This Bill is necessary because Irish copyright law was found to be defective by the CJEU in a judgment in 2020. Ireland should enact this Bill without delay to ensure that our law is compliant with EU and international obligations, particularly as our EU Presidency approaches. The scope of the Bill is very narrow. It is a short and targeted Bill. It is responding to matters raised in this case. The scope of the Bill was agreed by a Government decision. I welcome the Bill for a number of reasons. It corrects outdated parts of Irish copyright law.”
“I welcome the Minister to the Chamber to discuss this very important Bill. I will begin with a quote from Robin Sharma: "Passion plus production equals performance". I also love the quote from Steve Martin where he says, "Talking about music is like dancing about architecture". I am glad to get the opportunity to speak on the Bill. It is legislation that marks an important step forward in supporting creators' performance and rights holders across Ireland. Copyright is really about fair recognition and fair reward. This Bill recognises that the world of creative work and intellectual property is changing very quickly. It ensures that Ireland's copyright law is compliant with our international and European legal obligations.”
“Perhaps there is an opportunity to bring awareness of what Traveller culture is like to young children to appreciate this culture. It could help to break down some barriers between people and Irish Travellers. I would appreciate if the Leader brought that up with the Minister. I intend to do so too. I wanted to say that today, having been at the workshop this morning.”
“There is plenty of Irish culture in the schools as well, but the Travellers spoke about how nothing is ever done in primary schools about the old Irish culture of Travellers. Being able to explain to people who are Irish or of different nationalities some parts of what the culture is like is important. I took that on board today. One of the Travellers there mentioned he was born and reared in Navan. He is working in the Travellers' workshop, and is its chair. He spoke about how people of different nationalities can get into local restaurants and pubs and sometimes he might find it difficult to do so. It is back to the education piece. We should take it up with the Minister for education. We are looking at the primary curriculum at the moment.”
“This morning, I had the privilege of going to Meath Travellers' Workshop with Maria Walsh MEP. I had been there a few times previously, but sitting and listening to the people there today was a real eye-opener. It was a good experience. Something I am ashamed to say I did not know as a public representative is that every year we have a week called "Traveller Pride Week". This year, it will happen in late May. I think it will be around 25 May. Listening to some Travellers this morning, we discussed how education and communication are key and how in many of our primary schools we learn about different cultures. My children come home and say they had Spanish or French day, where they might eat some Spanish or French food.”
“With sports capital grant applications about to be open soon, it would be incredible for Johnstown Football Club to be able to make an application, so time is of the essence in this.”
“I know every other political representative in the Navan area has expressed concern about having facilities, including sports facilities, in Johnstown, and particularly my county council colleagues, Councillor John Duffy and Councillor Yemi Adenuga. This is very positive news, but we need to ensure that Johnstown Football Club is at the core of this development, that it will be a huge part of the development of these community facilities to get the space it so badly needs. I ask the Deputy Leader to get our Minister for sport, Deputy Patrick O'Donovan, to liaise with Meath County Council and ensure that Johnstown is part of this huge plan. I would like to thank Meath County Council for the work in this area, but it simply cannot come fast enough.”
“Last November, I mentioned that I had met representatives of Johnstown Football Club. I spoke about its desire to provide a football club in the Johnstown area of Navan. I mentioned that there were around 4,000 homes in the area with 12,000 people living in them, without even a playground, never mind sports facilities. There is nothing really there in Johnstown. It is larger than many towns across Ireland but does not have anything close to the community facilities that other towns have. I am delighted to be able to say that an application has been lodged by Albert Developments Limited for an 83-home development with a sports pitch and woodland walk in the Johnstown-Athlumney area. It was great to read it in the newspaper. This will be a game-changer for the area. I am not the only political person to speak up about this. Far from it.”
“I urge the Leader to please speak to the Minister of State with responsibility for disabilities - I will be writing to her myself about this very urgent case - to see what can be done for the residents of Clann Mór and the people who run it. They really are fantastic. I would also like the Leader to speak to the Minister for children, Deputy Foley, about this very urgent matter.”
“In addition, waking night staff for fire safety to comply with evacuation requirements for three houses in a designated centre are a measure essential for safeguarding residents. All of this is adding to the pressure. Last year, the centre was operating at a loss of €60,000. This year, it is expecting a loss of €160,000. As the Leader can imagine, that is unsustainable. The board fully appreciates, as do I, the pressures in public funding. It remains happy to collaborate with the HSE, but it feels at this stage that it cannot compromise its residents, their care or its legal responsibilities. Without extra funding for Clann Mór in Navan, they will be forced to consider measures that will negatively impact the most vulnerable in the county of Meath who use the service.”
“This morning, I would like to highlight the issue of a very important respite and day services centre in Navan, County Meath, called Clann Mór. I had the absolute privilege of going out to visit the Clann Mór centre on the Commons Road in Navan last year and got to see the wonderful service it provides. My goodness, it really does. The people within the service are just so happy to be there. However, although Clann Mór welcomes the increase in the budget for this year for disability services, it is under massive pressure. Obviously, there have been inflationary pressures and the introduction of statutory auto-enrolment pension contributions. Additional day service supports are needed. It has an increasing number of people looking to go there.”
“I am looking forward to working on this with the Minister for Finance, Deputy Harris, and the Minister of State, Deputy Troy. I welcome that we have started the conversation on it.”
“It is reinsurance where people pay a small portion into a general insurance scheme and then when their house gets flooded in the area, there is money there for them. I strongly call for this to be applicable to businesses as well. One only has to look at what happened in Enniscorthy last week in particular. I know a lot of other areas were affected but it was especially heartbreaking in Enniscorthy. As a business person myself I cannot even imagine walking in the next day and seeing everything gutted. When we are working from week to week in business, sometimes there is not the spare money there. I know we have great schemes from the Government to support households and businesses but to be able to go to sleep at night time knowing that there is some sort of cover would make a massive difference.”
“I wish to discuss the issue of flood insurance and a national flood insurance scheme. I had a meeting with the Minister of State, Deputy Troy, last Wednesday in which I raised this very subject with him. I was delighted that he responded in the meeting that he was anxious to do something about it. It has not been looked at here in Ireland for ten years. I was delighted to open the newspapers on Sunday to see the Minister of State’s comments about the need for this type of scheme. It is great when we can work together within the Government on things like this. When looking at a flood insurance scheme like this, it is important we look at both the household and business sides of it. There is a flood relief scheme in the UK that I have asked the Minister of State to look at. It looks at the housing side of things.”
“With the greatest respect to the Minister of State, before he states that he does not personally want this in schools, does he not think we should research it first? If you actually go out and ask the principals and the vice principals of the schools, they do not want to manage the bus escorts. The Minister of State talks about taking that away and says it is an extra layer of bureaucracy, but it will allow them to do more within the schools. It is not something I personally feel; I listen to them, and that is what they are coming back with. They would love to have some sort of transport co-ordinator - I am not saying in every school. I have not researched every school in the country. However, is it something we should look at, maybe talking to them about it?”
“I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive answer. I am glad he said that the pay needs to be worked on and that he took that away from our discussion on it last year. I acknowledge that he says this is an issue for the Department of Social Protection, but the Deputy is the Minister of State working with the bus escorts and that transport side of it, so it is about the two Departments liaising on it. They cannot wait five weeks in the summer to get paid. It just has to be looked at. I am glad to hear that we are working on it but I urge the Minister of State to try to improve on this for this summer. To think that they could get paid when they finish up work would be fantastic.”
“It could be an absolute game changer. One can imagine the benefits of taking away this stress each morning from the people whose goal it is to teach people in the school rather than having to look after transport.”
“In cases like St. Ultan's School in Navan, this means looking after 24 extra staff which is not technically part of its work remit. I also spoke to St. Mary's Special School in Johnstown in Navan about that this. It manages 21 buses and 24 bus escorts. Would the Department consider a transport manager to co-ordinate special buses travelling to and from schools? I have harped on about this for over a year. It is a brilliant idea. There would not be a specific transport manager for each school, but rather one that co-ordinates special schools in a locality. A handful of schools in Meath would be dealt with by a transport manager who would co-ordinate the buses and bus escorts. It would take that work from principals and vice principals and let them go about doing their job. It is a stressful and very rewarding environment.”
“Very often bus escorts are unavoidably sick, take holidays or deal with an unexpected situation just like employees in any job do. When they are unwell, the calls start at 6 a.m. and it is up to the school principal and vice principal to try to sort out this among everything else, and this can be very difficult. It is left to the school to be the employer of bus escorts. They receive 5% of the bus escorts' wages for administration, but the cost is much more than that. Special schools are at capacity. The role is challenging. Having to manage bus escorts is adding to a pot that is about to boil over. I ask the Department of Education and Youth and the Minister of State to examine this situation with a fresh approach, as I mentioned last year. I am not sure whether people realise that the management of the school is stretched enough.”
“They are escorted by bus escorts who, as I have said, do an incredible job. There is a facility in the special educational needs transport scheme for the appointment of a school transport escort where a child's care and safety needs while on school transport are such as to require the support of the school transport escort. One has to see what happens in the schoolyards like the one in the school with which I work to believe it. They are packed with buses, bus escorts, children, parents and staff. It takes the principal and vice principal to stand in the yard every morning to get the children off the buses and direct them to where they need to go. They may also have to arrange for them to have a run around after having been on a bus for a long time. As one can imagine, they can be overwhelmed. What is the issue?”
“However, bus escorts have to fill out forms and answer questions about whether their circumstances are the same. They have filled out forms at Easter and may have to fill them out again in the summer. Jobs where people are constantly going on and off social welfare require a mechanism to be in place to speed up the process for them. Who can work up to the summer and expect to survive for five weeks without social welfare payments? I am sure a job like that is very rewarding and often very challenging. We should not add to the pressures on them by having a system whereby they do not get their payments on time. The 24 buses at the school I work with, all of which carry vulnerable children, arrive at the same time from all over County Meath and, in some cases, Dublin.”