As the Deputy is aware, given the significant investment by the Department in this scheme — €175.2 million in 2008 — it is a matter of concern for the Department that some parents would reserve seats for their children and then not make full use of these seats during the full school year. Bus Éireann Inspectors and drivers provide feedback to Bus Éireann in this regard on a regular basis. Their reports indicate that the usage patterns for pupils can vary daily, there are very few pupils allocated tickets who never use their service but, given the number of routes in the network (6,000), it is difficult to specifically identify those pupils who use the service on an irregular basis.
Where a complaint of regular non use of a seat is received, Bus Éireann arranges to monitor the situation. Those pupils who are identified as using the school transport service on an irregular basis can be asked to surrender their tickets and make alternative transport arrangements. This facilitates the reallocation to other families of the seats in accordance with the terms of the school transport schemes.