School transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of my Department. In the 2018/2019 school year over 117,500 children, including over 13,000 children with special educational needs, were transported in over 5,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million kilometres at a cost of over €200m in 2018.
Bus Éireann is continuing to allocate seats for the current school year so the number of children availing of transport for the 2019/2020 school year is not yet finalised but the number is expected to be slightly higher than for the 2018/2019 school year.