Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 22 October 2015
339. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Education and Skills the policy decisions that were taken regarding the reduction in the provision of school bus transport where families were reliant on services; if she is aware that children have been refused concessionary transport and transport on a school bus where they were a free travel card holder; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37025/15]
View answerThe purpose of the School Transport Scheme is, having regard to available resources, to support the transport to and from school of children who reside remote from their nearest school.
Under the terms of the Scheme, children are eligible for school transport where they are attending their nearest school and meet the requisite distance.
School transport services, routes, pick-up points, vehicle size etc. are designed around the eligible children presenting for school transport.
Children who are not eligible for school transport may avail of school transport on a concessionary basis only subject to a number of terms and conditions which are outlined in the scheme. Included in these terms are: there is spare capacity on the service; routes will not be extended or altered, additional vehicles will not be introduced, nor will larger vehicles or extra trips using existing vehicles be provided to cater for children travelling on a concessionary basis; no additional State cost will be incurred; the appropriate annual charge is paid; Medical Card waiver is not applicable.
The availability of concessionary transport may vary from year to year, is not available on public scheduled services, and cannot be guaranteed for the duration of a child's education cycle. The terms of the School Transport Scheme are available on the Departments website at www.education.ie.
