Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 24 May 2017
44. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will ensure that persons starting second level school are not deprived of a school transport service which is and was available to older siblings in circumstances in which a new method of calculating the distance from school has been introduced and is causing difficulties in many rural parts. [24674/17]
View answerSchool transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department.
Currently almost 116,000 children, including some 12,000 children with special educational needs, are being transported in over 4,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million kilometres annually.
The purpose of my Department's 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 this Scheme in general children are eligible for transport where they meet the requisite distance and are attending their nearest school / education centre as determined by the Department/Bus Éireann, having regard to ethos and language.
Changes to the eligibility criteria for my Department's School Transport Scheme were announced in December 2010 by the then Government as part of measures contained in Budget 2011 and derived from recommendations contained in the Value for Money review of the scheme.
The school transport approach complements the overall Department policy which is to ensure that specific school accommodation needs for defined geographical areas are addressed in an orderly fashion.
Children who had an eligibility for school transport prior to the introduction of these changes retain this eligibility for the duration of their post primary school education provided there is no change in their circumstances though siblings applying for transport from 2012 onwards are subject to the revised eligibility criteria.
The terms of the scheme are applied equitably on a national basis.
