Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 September 2016
292. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will review the situation whereby students (details supplied) are refused school transport when the route to the nearest school is considered unsafe for travel in poor weather conditions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27291/16]
View answerSchool transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department.
During the 2015/16 school year in the region of 114,000 children, including some 10,000 children with special educational needs, were transported in approximately 4,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million kilometres annually.
Safety of children travelling on the school transport service is of paramount importance to my Department and to Bus Éireann. Bus Éireann place special emphasis on safety and, to this end, have a wide range of checking procedures in place to ensure that a safe and reliable service is provided.
Distance eligibility is determined by Bus Éireann by measuring the shortest traversable route from a child's home to the relevant education centre; may be either a pedestrian or vehicular route, and it is not necessarily the route that the school bus takes.
Bus Éireann has advised that children from the area referred to by the Deputy are not attending their nearest post primary school and are therefore not eligible for school transport.
The terms of the scheme are applied equitably on a national basis.
