Parents in Donegal have raised serious concerns over their children being left unsupervised after bus drop-offs in the mornings.
At one school in Donegal, pupils as young as four after being left at the school gates five minutes before adult supervision can begin.
Parents have described the wait from 8.45am to 8.50am as an ‘excruciatingly long’ time, in which anything could happen to young children.
The Dáil has heard calls for Bus Eireann and schools to collaborate to ensure drop-off times align with supervision provision.
Deputy Thomas Pringle TD raised parents’ fears to the Minister for Education yesterday, saying the oversight is potentially putting children in danger across multiple school districts.
“There is a major communication issue between buses and schools regarding drop-off times. It seems that the drop-off time of schoolchildren to schools is decided by Bus Éireann, based on fulfilling all the needs of the area, without prior discussions or arrangements with the schools,” Deputy Pringle said.
“One constituent contacted me about their son who has just started junior infants in Letterkenny last month. At this particular school, Bus Éireann have decided that the drop-off time is 8.45am, however the school is adamant that supervision of the children cannot be provided until 8.50am.
“This means that children as young as four years old are left on site without supervision. While five minutes may not seem long, those five minutes are excruciatingly long for anxious parents who are sending their children to school for the very first time and five minutes is long enough for very young children to find themselves facing a situation that they are not equipped to deal with,” he said.
It’s reported that parents applying for the scheme are not made aware of the possibility of drop-off times being earlier than school opening times.
“It’s very possible that some people aren’t even aware that this is happening. This could potentially be an issue that is affecting many children across the country, and it is also possible that some children are being left for more than five minutes,” Deputy Pringle said.
Addressing the Minister for Education, the Donegal TD said: “Both Bus Éireann and schools are in agreement that it is the Department of Education that needs to resolve this issue, however I have raised this issue with the Minister for Education multiple times in the last month to no response.
“I am asking today, Minister, that you investigate this issue and ensure that children as young as four are not left unsupervised on school grounds for any length of time at all.
“And I would also like to ask the minister what the actual cost of providing school transport for all children would be across the country because I don’t believe that it would be prohibitive,” he said.
