Local parents are up in arms that their children have been denied a place on the school bus for the start of the new year.
Borris Councillor Willie Quinn says he’s been told that Bus Eireann is operating a full service for this years school runs.
But a number of families are said to be irate after they were left short.
The issue is a hot topic this time every year with young people in pockets right across Carlow & Kilkenny left without transport to the school of their choice. It typically affects what are known as concessionary tickets for those who’ve opted to attend a school not located closest to them.
Cllr Quinn says he can’t understand how this problem is coming up again this year noting “The bus companies have been in contact with them telling them their kids won’t be able to get on the bus because the bus is full or whatever, I contacted the transport authority that runs the bus services and they said the buses are running as normal and there’s no cutbacks or anything like that so I don’t know where this problem is but I’ve had five or six families contact me in the last 48 hours and they’re very, very angry over this”.
It’s a particularly worrying situation in the midst of a global pandemic and Cllr Quinn has been telling KCLR that it’s time it got sorted.
“It seems to be the same problem every year come school time when you go back to school this problem arises and something needs to be done about it because parents, with Covid19 and all, they have enough worries without having to worry about trying to get their kids to school and it’s not like before, you can’t ask a neighbour now to bring a child because it’s a different family so there’s a major problem there in the covid crisis, something needs to be done and the Government need to step up to the mark now & get this problem sorted out, we’re within two weeks of the schools opening and it has to be sorted out now”.
