Issues with a school bus on a county Kilkenny route appear to have been resolved.
Deputy John McGuinness on Wednesday’s The KCLR Daily spoke of his disappointment that some children were not picked up on the Gowran to Kilkenny run the day before – you can listen back to that conversation here (from the six minute mark onwards):
It’s understood the provision of a new bus had been passed by the Department but there was an issue staffing drivers and getting garda clearance with the rate of progress was deemed too slow by the local Fianna Fáil representative.
With the Education Minister in the locality yesterday, Deputy McGuinness got an update before she departed telling KCLR News; “Yes there was a new bus needed for that Gowran area to service the route properly and the Minister has informed me today that the contract is being signed and that the clearance, in terms of the garda clearance, has been sorted so I would expect over short periods of time now to see that bus on the route and to see the parents and those children being accommodated properly”.
Deputy McGuinness adds that he wasn’t happy with what had transpired on Tuesday, noting; “I wasn’t no, I think that it’s very unfair to families, to the children who were put off the bus; I think that greater discussions should have taken place between the Bus Éireann representatives and the parents, no child should be left behind so we’ve ironed out that now with the Minister and I understand the appropriate steps are being taken to deal with all of that but in the meantime a long-standing issue in relation to Gowran has been resolved”.
