I am a principal officer in the primary branch. I also have responsibility for school transport at primary and post-primary level. I am accompanied by Camillus Hogan and Adrian Healy. Both are based in the school transport section in Tullamore and deal exclusively with that matter.
The provision of organised school transport for children dates from the early part of the last century. A series of ad hoc schemes were operated from 1910 to the 1960s to ensure schools were accessible to children of school-going age. Responsibility for running these schemes was vested in school managers who received grants to cover costs. The school transport scheme as we know it was established by the Department in 1967. This coincided with the introduction of free post-primary education, which led to an increased demand for transport for children at both primary and post-primary levels.
Eligibility for school transport is basically determined by distance from either the nearest national school in the case of primary school pupils and to the nearest centre in the case of post-primary pupils. The scheme was designed to cater for children who might otherwise have difficulty going to school on a regular basis. Bus Éireann is responsible for the operation of the scheme on behalf of the Department through a network of 11 regional offices. It plans routes, employs school bus drivers, contracts services, and checks for compliance with legal requirements, safety etc.
Currently, the scheme caters for approximately 140,000 pupils, 80,000 at post-primary level and 60,000 at primary level. Included in these figures are approximately 9,000 special needs pupils. There are over 2,900 vehicles servicing in the region of 5,000 routes. There are approximately 1,150 contractors supplying in the region of 2,300 vehicles, including minibuses and taxis. In its direct operation under the scheme, Bus Éireann utilises over 600 large school buses. The current financial allocation for school transport is just over €110 million.
In recent years, the school transport service has been expanded to meet the transport requirements of children with special needs in both urban and rural areas. Where transport cannot be provided for a child with special needs on a regular bus service, a transport grant may be paid to the parents or guardian of the child to assist with the cost of making private transport arrangements. The level of grant paid depends on the distance from the school. For example, the maximum grant payable is €2,100 per annum if the child resides 25.1 miles or more from the school. A parent or guardian may appeal to the Department for an enhanced grant which is based on a rate per mile. The current rate per mile is 63.5 cent. A feature of the school transport scheme for children with special needs is the employment of escorts, where necessary. The cost of the escort scheme in 2003 was of the order of €4.6 million.
Until 2001, a child under ten years of age was eligible for school transport if living not less than two miles from the nearest suitable school, whereas an older child was eligible if living at least three miles from the nearest suitable school. With effect from 2001 the following improvements were implemented: all primary school children living two or more miles from their nearest national school are eligible for free transport; the distance requirement from the nearest route was reduced from three to two miles in respect of fully eligible post-primary pupils; the number of pupils required to establish and maintain a new primary school service was reduced from ten eligible pupils to not less than seven eligible pupils; the threshold for maintaining the service was reduced to four eligible pupils provided there is a minimum of six fare-paying pupils using the service; at post-primary level the combined daily travelling and waiting times were reduced from a maximum of three hours to 2.5 hours; the distance requirement for eligibility for the remote area grant in the case of primary pupils was reduced from three to two miles and this grant may now be paid to individual families instead, as was the case in the past, of being shared between families; and parents may now pay for an extension of a bus service in certain circumstances.
The post-primary transport scheme provides that for eligible and catchment boundary pupils a charge of €33 per term applies for pupils in the junior cycle and €51 per term for pupils in the senior cycle. Charges of €26 per term and €51 per term are levied for concessionary passengers at primary and post-primary levels, respectively. The maximum family contribution is €107 per term. No contribution is payable by eligible pupils where a parent or guardian holds a medical card but possession of a medical card does not remove liability for the charge for concessionary passengers.
Safety is a matter of paramount importance to the Department of Education and Science and Bus Éireann. The safety of schoolchildren is given a particularly high priority. This is reflected in Bus Éireann's safety record in the operation of school transport. To put the school transport safety record in context, school buses cover over 40 million miles a year. While even one accident is one too many, the overall accident rate is less than one accident per 1 million miles of operation. Since 1989, with the exception of one accident, no children died on board, or were struck and fatally injured by a bus operating under the school transport scheme, either owned by Bus Éireann or a contractor. The one exception was a tragic accident in 1998. The Department understands that no fault could be apportioned to the bus driver for this accident, nor was any aspect of the operation of the bus a factor in the circumstances of the accident.
All vehicles operating under the school transport scheme are required to meet the statutory regulations as laid down by the Department of Transport. Where vehicles have over eight adult seats and are more than one year old, they are required to pass the Department of Transport's annual roadworthiness test. Bus Éireann's policy of continuous fleet replacement facilitates improvement in the quality of vehicles used in the operation of the school transport scheme. Over 200 more modern buses have replaced older buses since January 2002, producing an improvement in the age profile and quality of the school bus fleet as a result.
Contractors employed by Bus Éireann to provide services under the school transport scheme must satisfy strict criteria and must hold a road passenger operator's licence where their vehicle has more than eight adult seats. Vehicles nominated for use under the scheme must be suitable for the conveyance of school children and must have complete and current documentation in respect of both buses and drivers as required by law. The vehicles have to be kept and maintained in a safe and roadworthy condition and to comply in all respects with the Road Traffic Acts.
I will now deal with the three for two arrangement on school buses. The loading or carrying capacity of school buses is determined by the relevant sections of the Road Traffic (Construction, Equipment and Use of Vehicles) Regulations. Under existing public services vehicle regulations, the licensed carrying capacity of all vehicles engaged in the school transport scheme is based on a ratio of three passengers for every two adult seats. The question of the three for two arrangement was addressed in a review of school transport some years ago. That report stated:
No one can doubt that 1:1 would be preferable to current practice, but that is not the point. The issue is whether the large increase in cost which would result from an insistence that 1:1 be used would be justified: or, in other words, whether the reduction in risk resulting from a move to 1:1 is worth paying for.
The report also stated:
Some may think that such an approach involves, "putting children's safety at risk for the sake of financial considerations". However, this is the approach taken in all aspects of life, in public policy and by individuals in their day-to-day lives. Everyone balances risk against cost and there is nothing improper about deciding the 3:2 issue in this way.
A 1:1 ratio is desirable, however, all scheduled road and rail passenger vehicles have a rated carrying capacity in excess of the number of seats. In some cases such as the DART, the ratio of passengers to seats will in fact be higher than three to two at some times of the day. Generally speaking, no pupil will spend more than a small proportion of his her journey time in circumstances where the three for two ratio is effective. This is because, given the loading sequence on any particular route, a vehicle has its full complement of passengers for only the last portion of its journey in the morning and the first portion in the evening. There is no recorded case of an accident being attributed to the three for two seating arrangement or of that arrangement exacerbating the effects of an accident.
Under existing regulations the wearing of seatbelts is not compulsory on school buses. Seat belts must be worn on buses in which they are fitted with effect from 2006. Legislation in this area is a matter for the Minister for Transport. Most users of the school transport system are satisfied with the service provided and with the decisions taken on their entitlements. Given the significant numbers of applicants for school transport it is inevitable that some will wish to appeal decisions taken. In order to increase transparency in the system and to demonstrate that appeals are treated in an equitable manner, the Minister of State, Deputy de Valera, announced the establishment of an independent school transport appeals board in January 2003. Members of the board are with us today and will address the committee immediately following this presentation. Deputy de Valera has also instituted a review of the school transport scheme which is being finalised within the Department.
I hope we will be able to answer any queries that may be raised by members of the committee.
