Sir, – Brian Lynch, when writing on the school transport scheme (August 3rd), failed to disclose his involvement in a consortium that is taking legal action against the State in relation to the school transport scheme.
This is not the only omission in his letter. Mr Lynch also fails to state that a representative body for more than 1,000 local private operators recently said that the consortium’s plan for school transport would “lead to the demise of large numbers of small to medium sized operators”. Bus Éireann currently works with 1,400 private operators around the country to deliver school transport. These local operators, who employ around 4,000 people, collectively receive €105 million of the €150 million annual cost of the school transport scheme.
Mr Lynch also failed to acknowledge that a recent value for money study conducted as part of the 2009-2011 reviews approved by Government found that the “complex” and “significant” school transport scheme is managed in a highly effective and efficient manner by Bus Éireann. Nor is there any mention of the fact that Bus Éireann, in conjunction with the Department of Education, in the last number of years has reduced the overall cost of the scheme to the State by more than €10 million, while increasing the number of school transport services by more than 350, most of which were tailored, door-to-door services for children with special needs. – Yours, etc,