Written Answers Nos. 245-264
245. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Minister for Education and Skills if the required clarifications have been received from the vendor of the site for schools (details supplied); if satisfactory, if a design team will be appointed for both projects; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35489/18]
View answerAs indicated in my response to previous Parliamentary Questions, engagement with the vendor is ongoing in respect of outstanding clarifications regarding the proposed school site acquisition. Therefore, the appointment of a design team cannot be progressed yet but Department officials will work to do so as soon as it is possible.
246. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason there is no specific special education teacher category to register under the Teaching Council. [35544/18]
View answer247. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason a level 8 in Montessori from a college (details supplied) is recognised by the Teaching Council as a qualification to register as a special educational needs teacher under the category of Montessori and other but a level 8 in early years teaching and learning from Maynooth University and level 9 qualifications from both DCU and UCD specific to this category are not. [35545/18]
View answer248. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Education and Skills when the Teaching Council last reviewed the policies concerning the criteria that deem a person suitable to be a special education teacher. [35546/18]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 246 to 248, inclusive, together.
All initial teacher education programmes in Ireland that lead to registration must have professional accreditation from the Teaching Council. The Teaching Council's (Registration) Regulations 2016 set out the routes under which teachers are eligible to apply for registration. A degree in Early Childhood Teaching and Learning, while valuable, is not an accredited course nor does it meet the registration requirements under Route 4 Other of the Teaching Council Registration Regulations 2016 (formerly Regulation 3 Montessori and Other Categories of the 2009 Regulations).
Under the Council’s criteria for initial teacher education (revised in March 2017), student teachers in all accredited programmes are required to undertake study in Inclusive Education (Special Education, Multiculturalism, Disadvantage, etc.) as mandatory areas.
Registration under Route 3 (Further Education) of the 2016 Regulations is the only route to registration available where an accredited qualification is not held. Applicants who apply under this route must hold a degree qualification but are not initially required to hold a teacher education qualification (TEQ). A relevant TEQ is required under Route 3. However applicants who meet the degree qualification requirements and who have not completed an accredited TEQ are eligible for conditional registration for a period of three years in which time this requirement must be completed.
The St. Nicholas Montessori College degree in Montessori Education has long standing recognition with the Department of Education and Skills (DES) and was subsequently amalgamated into the Council’s Registration Regulations. This is being phased out. Under the 2016 Regulations, the qualification is only acceptable for registration under Route 4 Other where the application is made on or before 31 December 2023.
There are a number of Graduate and Post-graduate Diplomas in the field of Special Education which are approved by the Department of Education and Skills and can be used to add this sector to a teacher’s registration where the teacher also holds an accredited Primary teacher education qualification. The Teaching Council works within DES policy and central to this policy is that all teachers teaching children with Special Educational Needs should be qualified Primary or Post-primary teachers in the first instance and may then apply for one of the DES recognised qualifications in Special Educational Needs as outlined in the DES circular 0004/2018.
249. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Education and Skills if his attention has been drawn to the fact that a college (details supplied) no longer takes masters applicants working as special needs assistants unless they are willing to take a career break; the reasoning behind this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35547/18]
View answerThe College concerned is a privately owned on-line third level education entity in respect of which my Department does not have any regulatory function. Programmes of initial teacher education provided in the State including those offered by this College must be accredited by the Teaching Council.
250. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Education and Skills the capital funding opportunities available for educational institutions such as a centre (details supplied); and if none, if the possibility for putting in place a capital funding stream for such educational institutions in which the institution prepares students for either junior certificate and-or leaving certificate level examinations will be examined. [35567/18]
View answerMy Department’s immediate capital funding priority is providing 20,000 new and replacement school places each year, to ensure that every child has a school place. To ensure that this is achieved, the delivery of major school projects to meet significant demographic demands nationally is the main focus for capital investment in schools in the coming years. The Six Year Construction Programme is focused on meeting this demand. In addition, on 13 April last, I announced that 42 new schools will be established over the next four years (2019-2022). Given the need to meet demographic growth, the delivery of new schools, together with extension projects identified by my Department’s construction programme to meet future demand, will remain the focus of my Department’s budget for the coming years.
My Department is not currently in a position to provide capital funding to the facility referred to by the Deputy.
While my Department’s policy is to support students in mainstream provision, it also provides supports in a number of out-of-school settings including the Centre in question. Supports are also provided through the Education and Training Board sector to other out of school education providers such as Youthreach.
The Centre referred to by the Deputy currently receives financial supports from my Department through the Part-Time Hours Scheme for the teachers they employ. In addition annual non-pay grants are paid by my Department, directly to the Dublin Dun Laoghaire ETB, to meet the non-pay running costs of the Centre.
Action 88 of DEIS Plan 2017 provides for a review of current out of school provision to inform future policy in this area. This review is currently being carried out by a Working Group chaired by my Department and including representatives from Tusla and the ETB sector.
251. Deputy Fiona O'Loughlin asked the Minister for Education and Skills the procedure in place for a family that is unable to find a second level place in their area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35612/18]
View answerMy Department's main responsibility is to ensure that schools in an area can, between them, cater for all pupils seeking school places in an area. However, this may result in some pupils not obtaining a place in the school of their first choice. As schools may not have a place for every applicant, a selection process may be necessary. This selection process and the enrolment policy on which it is based must be non-discriminatory, and must be applied fairly in respect of all applicants.
Under section 15 (2) (d) of the Education Act, 1998, each school is legally obliged to disclose its enrolment policy and to ensure that, as regards that policy, principles of equality and the right of parents to send their children to a school of the parents' choice are respected.
Section 29 of the Education Act, 1998 provides for an appeal by a parent or guardian to the Secretary General of my Department or - in the case of an Education and Training Board (ETB) school - to the ETB in the first instance, where a Board of Management of a school, or a person acting on behalf of the Board, refuses to enrol a student in a school, expels a student, or suspends a student for 20 or more days in any school year. My Department has no authority to compel a school to admit a pupil, except in the case of an appeal under section 29 of the Education Act, 1998 being upheld.
Application forms for taking a section 29 appeal are available on my Department's website at the following link :
http://www.education.ie/en/Parents/Services/Appeal-against-Permanent-Exclusion-Suspension-or-Refusal-to-Enrol/Section-29-Appeals-Application-Form.doc, or by contacting Section 29 Administration Unit, Friars Mill Road, Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, phone 0761 108588.
The Educational Welfare Service (EWS) of the Child and Family Agency (TUSLA) is the statutory agency which can assist parents who are experiencing difficulty in securing a school place for their child.
The EWS may be able to offer assistance and advice on securing a school placement within your area. The contact details for the head office of the EWS is Educational Welfare Service of the Child and Family Agency, Floors 2-5, Brunel Building, Heuston South Quarter, Dublin 8, phone number 01-7718500.
252. Deputy Fiona O'Loughlin asked the Minister for Education and Skills the steps he will take to increase access to NEPS psychologists for schools in Newbridge, County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35614/18]
View answerAs the Deputy may be aware my Department’s National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) provides educational psychological support to all primary and post-primary schools. This involves direct support in the event of a critical incident, access to national and regional support and development work to build school capacity to support students, access to a NEPS psychologist for responses to queries arising, and access to individual pupil casework via a NEPS psychologist or through the Scheme for the Commissioning of Psychological Assessments. (SCPA).
I can inform the Deputy that following on from an increase allowed in the 2017 Budget the sanctioned number for NEPS psychologists was raised to 184 whole-time equivalents of which some 177 w.t.e. posts are currently filled, with 7 posts vacant due to on-going retirements and resignations, etc. within the Service. Even at this current level this represents the highest number of psychologists to be employed within NEPS since the inception of the service in 2000.
Additionally the Deputy may be aware that under the provisions of Budget 2018 I was pleased to announce that NEPS psychologist numbers will expand by a further 10 posts for the 2018/19 academic year.
I can inform the Deputy that a national recruitment competition is currently in operation by the Public Appointments Service in conjunction with my Department to replenish NEPS Regional Recruitment Panels to allow for both the filling of the above-mentioned 7 vacancies and the expansion of NEPS number by a further 10 posts.
The schools in Newbridge, to which the Deputy alludes in her question, receive service within the NEPS Dublin Mid Leinster Region from the local NEPS Naas office. The national staffing increases to date and in the immediate future are applied regionally according to relative needs and have and will allow for the deepening of service to all schools including those in Newbridge.
253. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Education and Skills the additional spend in 2017 on the 79 schools added to the DEIS programme when compared with expenditure on the same schools in 2016. [35618/18]
View answerThe Deputy will be aware that my Department provides a wide range of resources and supports to DEIS schools each year. Such resources include additional teaching posts, grants, curriculum supports, priority access to Continuing Professional Development, etc. The full list is available on my Department's website www.education.ie at the following link: https://www.education.ie/en/Schools-Colleges/Services/DEIS-Delivering-Equality-of-Opportunity-in-Schools-/deis-supports-to-deis-schools-effective-from-2017-2018-school-year.pdf
The purpose of the overall suite of supports available to schools participating in the DEIS programme is to improve educational outcomes for pupils at greatest risk of not reaching their full potential by virtue of their socio-economic circumstances.
Details of DEIS related expenditure by my Department and other Departments, together with the number of schools in the programme is a matter of public record and can be accessed at https://www.education.ie/en/Schools-Colleges/Services/DEIS-Delivering-Equality-of-Opportunity-in-Schools-/DEIS-Expenditure.pdf
Following the publication of the DEIS Review Report and DEIS Plan 2017 in February 2017, 79 new schools were included in DEIS for the first time and a further 30 schools were upgraded from Band 2 to Band 1 status. These schools have been receiving supports since September 2017. My Department currently invests over €125m annually to fund the various supports available to the 899 schools participating in the DEIS Programme in the 2018/19 school year. It is not possible to provide the additional expenditure in 2017 over the 2016 expenditure for the 79 schools included in the DEIS Programme for the first time since September 2017 due to the diverse range of supports provided. As I have stated above the full list of resources and supports available to DEIS schools is published on my Department's website.
254. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of English as an additional language teaching posts that exist; and the number in 2008, 2010 and 2012, respectively. [35619/18]
View answerI wish to advise the Deputy that DES Circular 0013/2017 for primary schools and 0014/2017 for post primary schools were published on 7th March 2017.
These Circulars set out the details of the new model for allocating special education teachers to schools.
The new Special Education Teaching allocation provides a single unified allocation for special educational support teaching needs to each school, based on each school’s educational profile and also encompasses the Language Support (EAL) allocation that schools were allocated in previous years.
It should be noted that this is a brand new model of allocation and is not comparable to the previous model.
Under the new allocation model, schools have been provided with a total allocation for special education needs support based on their school profile.
The provision of a profiled allocation is designed to give a fairer allocation for each school which recognises that all schools need an allocation for special needs support including language support but which provides a graduated allocation which takes into account the actual level of need in each school.
Under the new allocation model, schools are frontloaded with resources, based on each school’s profile, to provide supports immediately to those pupils who need it without delay.
By using a broad range of attainment and socio-economic criteria, it is expected that generally, a school’s profile will remain relatively constant from year to year. Each year, some students with additional teaching needs will leave and others will enrol, broadly balancing the school profile.
Further additional temporary Language Support is also provided, as necessary, to schools that have high concentrations of pupils that require language (EAL) support. At primary level, these allocations are made on the basis of appeals by schools to the Primary Staffing Appeals Board and at post-primary level to the Post Primary Staffing Appeals Board.
255. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Education and Skills the estimated spend on books by schools participating in the school book rental scheme at primary and post-primary level. [35620/18]
View answer278. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Education and Skills the spend on the book rental scheme; the capital and current expenditure; and the number of schools participating in each of the years 2010 to 2017 and to date in 2018, in tabular form. [36000/18]
View answer279. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Education and Skills the estimated number of children at primary and second level not benefitting from the book rental scheme. [36007/18]
View answer280. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of schools at primary and second level not participating in the book rental scheme. [36008/18]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 255 and 278 to 280, inclusive, together.
My Department supports the operation of book rental schemes through the funding provided under the School Books Grant Scheme. Under this scheme, my Department provides funding of €16.6m annually to primary and post-primary schools in the free education scheme. School book rental schemes have an important role to play in reducing the cost of school books for parents.
The current arrangements for the school book grant rely on the local knowledge of the school in order to ensure a fair allocation of funds to those most in need. The system is fully compatible with local autonomy.
My Department does not hold information in relation to the expenditure on books by individual schools at primary and post-primary level or on the numbers of children at primary and post-primary who benefit from the book rental scheme. However the most recent figures available indicate that 96% of primary schools and 68% of post-primary schools operate a book rental scheme.
The attached document gives a breakdown of the following:
- Funding provided under the School Book Grant Scheme for primary and post-primary schools which includes capital expenditure for the years 2010 to date.
- Numbers of schools at primary and post-primary participating in the scheme where such information is held by my Department.
One of the actions as part of the Action Plan for Education is to strengthen the focus on reducing school costs for parents by increasing the financial support for book rental schemes, in order to reduce/eliminate school book costs for parents as resources permit.
Book Grant including capital expenditure - Primary & Post-primary
|
Year |
Primary |
Post Primary |
||
|
Book Grant Paid |
Seed Capital for Book Rental |
Total incl seed capital |
Book Grant Paid |
|
|
2010 |
€6,870,617 |
€6,870,617 |
€7,801,046 |
|
|
2011 |
€6,906,112 |
€6,906,112 |
€7,968,084 |
|
|
2012 |
€6,980,684 |
€6,980,684 |
€8,085,243 |
|
|
2013 |
€7,090,319 |
€7,090,319 |
€8,273,229 |
|
|
2014 |
€7,198,663 |
€4,996,160 |
€12,194,823 |
€8,410,203 |
|
2015 |
€7,295,476 |
€5,489,790 |
€12,785,266 |
€8,610,096 |
|
2016 |
€7,394,194 |
€5,281,730 |
€12,675,924 |
€8,747,325 |
|
2017 |
€7,517,174 |
€7,517,174 |
€8,990,202 |
|
|
2018 to date |
€7,573,819 |
€7,573,819 |
€9,104,229 |
|
No. of Schools participating in Book Rental Scheme
|
School Year |
Primary Schools |
Post-Primary Schools |
||
|
Participating in book rental scheme |
Not participating in book rental scheme |
Participating in book rental scheme |
Not participating in book rental scheme |
|
|
2011/2012 |
2493 |
666 |
Not available |
Not available |
|
2012/2013 |
2676 |
476 |
Not available |
Not available |
|
2013/2014 |
2705 |
440 |
Not available |
Not available |
|
2014/2015 |
2974 |
163 |
Not available |
Not available |
|
2015/2016 |
3001 |
123 |
428 |
229 |
|
2016/2017 |
Not available |
Not available |
435 |
228 |
|
2017/2018 |
Not available |
Not available |
450 |
213 |
256. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Education and Skills if an application and appeal by a school (details supplied) for a specialised ASD portacabin to house its new ASD unit from September 2018 until the new unit is built will be reviewed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35629/18]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, my Department approved a grant to the school in question to build a new ASD Unit in July 2018.
The current accommodation available at the school includes five classrooms and three Special Education Teacher (SET) Rooms.
For the 2018/2019 school year, the school has a requirement for four mainstream classrooms, one ASD class and three SET rooms. My Department is satisfied that the school can utilise existing accommodation to meet these teaching requirements pending the completion of the building project to provide the ASD Unit.
257. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Education and Skills if an appeal by a school (details supplied) will be upheld with regard to the refusal of an emergency works application; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35640/18]
View answerI am pleased to inform the Deputy that the appeal from the school to which he refers has been reviewed and funding has been approved to carry out the repair works in question. The school has been informed of my Department's decision.
258. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Education and Skills if the case of a person (details supplied) will be reviewed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35657/18]
View answerThe student to which the Deputy refers, has exhausted the appeals process both with SUSI and the statutory independent Student Grants Appeals Board (SGAB). There is no further review process within the statutory based appeals system under which the Student Grant Scheme operates.
Under the progression rules in the Student Grant Scheme, an undergraduate student is ineligible for a grant if s/he already holds an undergraduate higher education and training award at or above Level 8 of the framework of qualifications, or equivalent.
In terms of other supports, students in third-level institutions experiencing exceptional financial need can apply for support under the Student Assistance Fund. This Fund assists students, in a sensitive and compassionate manner, who might otherwise be unable to continue their third level studies due to their financial circumstances. Information on the fund is available through the Access Officer in the third level institution attended. This fund is administered on a confidential, discretionary basis.
Tax relief at the standard rate of tax may also be claimed in respect of tuition fees paid for approved courses at approved colleges of higher education, including approved postgraduate courses in EU Member States and in non-EU countries. Further information on this tax relief is available from the Revenue Commissioners on www.revenue.ie.
259. Deputy Fiona O'Loughlin asked the Minister for Education and Skills his views on the decline in Irish university ratings in international rankings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35704/18]
View answerAt the outset it is important to note that there is a diversity of ranking systems under which universities are assessed on the basis of a number of different models. The most recent world rankings published by QS are one of a suite of ranking models which are published annually which also include the Times Higher Education and U-Multirank. In addition, QS itself has eight sets of rankings including ‘Top 50 under 50’ and ‘Graduate Employability Rankings’.
The most recent rankings reflected a strong performance overall by Ireland’s Higher Education system. In the 2019 QS World University Rankings Ireland sees two of its eight top institutions featuring in the top 200, or top 1%, of some 15,000 universities worldwide. All seven universities and Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) feature in the top 800 worldwide.
However, caution is appropriate in interpreting the results of international league tables of universities in light of the significant methodological issues in terms of how the rankings are compiled. In the case of the most recent QS international rankings these include that they:-
- do not measure the quality of teaching or the quality of learning;
- do not take into account how universities support access or tackle educational disadvantage – a key national objective;
- rely on global surveys of academics and employers who may have had no interaction with the institution in question; and
- measure the impact of research by the number of times a paper is cited, however bibliometrics analysis serves fields of research unequally e.g. less than 25% of humanities outputs covered by some databases, and less than 33% of social sciences. Many research outputs types (books, reports etc) are inadequately included, if they are included at all.
As such and in common with other types of quantitative research analysis, bibliometric data should be used with informed care and never in isolation from other metrics, and ideally alongside qualitative analysis and peer review.
In summary, it is clear that international rankings can impact – both positively and negatively – on international perceptions of our national university system. Therefore, it is important that we develop a deeper understanding of the key drivers of Ireland’s rankings in order to be able to explain better the factors driving performance, highlighting where the approach could be improved. In that regard, my Department is currently evaluating the trends emerging from the separate models and will feed the results of this work through the general mechanisms for ensuring quality across the Higher Education system, including the System Performance Framework and the Revised Funding Allocation Model.
260. Deputy Fiona O'Loughlin asked the Minister for Education and Skills the action being taken to avoid non-teachers being hired to correct State examinations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35705/18]
View answerThe State Examinations Commission has statutory responsibility for operational matters relating to the certificate examinations.
In view of this I have forwarded your query to the State Examinations Commission for direct reply to you.
261. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Education and Skills if the case of a person (details supplied) with regard to the July provision will be addressed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35771/18]
View answerThe July Provision Grant Scheme provides funding for an extended school year for children with severe/profound general learning disabilities or children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Under this scheme, the school year of participating schools is extended by four weeks in July.
Where school based provision is not feasible, the home based Scheme provides funding towards an extended school year for children with a severe or profound general learning disability and/or children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) enrolled in recognised schools.
The 2018 Home Based July Provision for primary school children ran from 2nd – 27th July inclusive, there is no provision to make grant payments towards tuition provided outside of those dates.
The terms and conditions for the July Provision Grant Scheme 2018 are set out in the Department's Information Note on the scheme which was published with the application forms and is available on my Department’s website at www.education.ie
I have previously advised the Deputy that it is not possible to approve an application for the July Provision Grant unless the tutor engaged by Parents is registered and vetted by the teaching council in advance of the provision of tuition.
While the deadline for applications under the scheme was 18th May 2018, my Department accepted late applications from Parents and processed them in a timely manner.
With regard to the application referred to the Deputy, a completed application was submitted by the Parent on the 25 July, 2018. The application was processed immediately and funding for 10 hours tuition was approved, the maximum available during the last week of the scheme.
As outlined above the 2018 Home Based July Provision for primary school children ran from 2nd – 27th July inclusive, there is no provision to make grant payments towards tuition provided outside of those dates. Grant funding can only issue in line with the published terms and conditions of the scheme.
262. Deputy Fiona O'Loughlin asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to reduce the pupil-teacher ratio; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35777/18]
View answerBudget 2018 marked the second year of major reinvestment in the education sector, as we continue to implement the Action Plan for Education, which has the central aim to make the Irish education and training service the best in Europe within a decade.
Since September 2016, my Department has provided for 4800 additional teachers across the school system. These improvements improved the ratio of teachers to students from 16:1 to 15.3:1 at primary level and 14.1:1 to 13.1:1 at post-primary level.
Budget 2018 provided for a further 1280 posts from September 2018.
At primary level, 145 additional teachers have been allocated to meet demographic needs, 305 posts to reduce the staffing schedule by 1 point and a further 30 resource teachers and 163 SEN teachers.
At post-primary level, 400 additional teachers have been allocated to meet demographic needs, with an additional 70 resource teachers, 100 teachers in respect of Guidance and 67 SEN teachers.
Any additional improvement would have to be considered as part of the next annual budgetary process, alongside the many other demands from the education sector.
263. Deputy Fiona O'Loughlin asked the Minister for Education and Skills the current and planned investment in mental health counselling at third level; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35778/18]
View answerMy Department allocates recurrent funding to the Higher Education Authority (HEA) for direct disbursement to HEA designated higher education institutions. The HEA allocates this funding as a block grant to the institutions. As autonomous bodies, the internal disbursement of this funding, including the funding of student services, is a matter for the individual institution.
Details of expenditure incurred in respect of counselling services in the third level sector are outlined in the table. Data in respect of the academic year 2016/17 is not immediately available, however, it is expected that it would be broadly in line with previous years.
|
Date |
Universities and Colleges (incl MIC, NCAD & St Angela's College) |
IoTs |
|
2014/15 |
€3,853,638 |
€2,185,196 |
|
2015/16 |
€4,185,682 |
€2,299,286 |
Student services and associated activities are an integral part of the whole student experience at third level. Student services support each individual student achieve his/her intellectual, cultural and social potential while supporting and complementing the formal academic programme. Student services can fall under a number of headings, particularly ‘Welfare and Guidance’ which includes counselling services, health promotion, careers service, multi-faith, racial and ethnic cultural support.
The Deputy may wish to note that AHEAD, the Association for Higher Education Access and Disability, is supported through an annual grant from the HEA towards the cost of the activities of the organisation. In 2016, AHEAD in partnership with the National Learning Network (NLN), published a report called ‘Mental Health Matters’, a study into the experiences of students with mental health difficulties. The study found that the majority of HEIs have services supporting students with mental health difficulties and some institutions have dedicated services for students.
The report made a number of recommendations such as the promotion of mental health awareness to students on their induction, the provision of mental health awareness at institutional level for staff and institutions adopting a whole of campus strategic response to meet the needs of students experiencing mental health difficulties.
264. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Education and Skills the reason a person (details supplied) is not eligible for a bus ticket to attend college in County Cavan in view of the fact that their two older siblings are eligible for same. [35797/18]
View answerSchool transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department.
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.
In the 2017/18 school year over 117,000 children, including over 12,000 children with special educational needs, were transported in over 4,500 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million kilometres annually at a total cost of almost €190 million in 2017.
Under the terms of my Department's Post Primary School Transport Scheme children are eligible for school transport where they reside not less than 4.8 kilometres from and are attending their nearest education centre as determined by my Department/Bus Éireann, having regard to ethos and language.
Bus Éireann, which operates school transport on behalf of my Department, has advised that when an application was made in 2017 for the child referred to by the Deputy, it was discovered that this family were not attending their nearest school and that the siblings of the child referred to by the Deputy were originally deemed eligible in error.
Children who are deemed eligible in error retain their transport eligibility for the duration of their post primary education cycle provided there is no change to their current circumstances.
However, as the child in question is not attending his nearest education centre he is not eligible for school transport under the terms of the scheme.
The terms of this scheme are applied equitably on a national basis.
