Mum's concern over bus ticket refusal

 

“It’s anti-rural Ireland, and its anti-community, nothing else. They don't care, its all about numbers to them,” a Monaghan mum, who learned just days before her eight-year-old son Oisín starts second class on Wednesday, that his concessionary bus ticket has been revoked, has said.
Fionnuala McQuillan lives in the last house in Latton before entering Rockcorry. While the school in the latter parish might be nearer to her home, she says she votes at Latton NScome election time. “I'm considered Latton to vote, and when politicians look for my vote they know which parish to go to. But when it comes to sending my child to school the State just doesn't give a hoot. If I wasn't getting him to school, if he missed 15 days or more, they wouldn't be slow letting me know about it.”
Ultimately the change in circumstances has left Fionnuala in “a really difficult position”.
She only realised that Oisín's ticket had been revoked after another concerned mother got in touch.
Up to that point, she had done “everything right and all that was asked of me. I knew probably it was something that could arrive. But I would've thought we'd be given some notice. No notice, that's just disgraceful.”
Fionnuala logged online and paid the annual fee of €100 ahead of the April 27 deadline.
“It had been in the back of my mind that the ticket hadn't come, but I was working and it went out of my head. It wasn't until another mother told me they'd been refused a ticket that I checked.”
What has transpired is concessionary tickets for the area went into a lottery-type system such is the demand for bus places and Fionnuala's son Oisín and others are among those who have lost out. Frustrating for Fionnuala is not only the tight time frame and lack of notice at the refusal to grant a bus ticket but Bus Eireann are still in possession of her €100.
“They still have my €100. More to that, given the deadline, they've two full months in which to tell me there isn't a seat available, but they couldn't do that. Its outrageous.”
Challenging the process is Fianna Fáil TD Niamh Smyth.
“Dozens of families have contacted me worried that with only days to go until their school reopen, students are finding out that they are not eligible for a ticket and will not be getting one. This has caused serious upset in houses throughout Monaghan and Cavan at an already stressful time for families.”
“These cases highlight the need for the introduction of a School Transport Guarantee so that no child loses their place on board a school bus if they have been allocated a concessionary seat in either junior infants or first year of secondary school.”