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Tuesday, 8 Sep 2020

Written Answers Nos. 613-632

Schools Building Projects

Questions (613)

Paul Kehoe

Question:

613. Deputy Paul Kehoe asked the Minister for Education the status of a building project for a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22349/20]

View answer

Written answers

I am pleased to inform the Deputy that the building project for the school to which he refers is being devolved for delivery to the School Authority with the assistance of Waterford and Wexford Education and Training Board (WWETB).

My Department will engage with the School Authority to put in place a Service Level Agreement (SLA) which is the next step in progressing the project.

Once the SLA is in place, the School Authority will procure a design team for the project to design the building, obtain the necessary statutory planning permission and move the project onward to construction in due course. As the project is at an early stage in the delivery process, it is not possible at this time to give a date for its completion.

School Enrolments

Questions (614)

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire

Question:

614. Deputy Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire asked the Minister for Education the schools that have returned for the 2020/2021 academic year with classes of 30 or more by county in tabular form and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22391/20]

View answer

Written answers

The information requested by the deputy is not available. Provisional data for the academic year 2020/2021 will be available in January 2021.

Please find attached information for the academic year 2019/2020 - the most recent available data.

The figures are based on mainstream classes in mainstream schools and were collated from the relevant Class Size tables published on the DES website and can be found at the link below;

https://www.education.ie/en/Publications/Statistics/Data-on-Individual-Schools/primary/

Academic Year: 2019/2020

Number of schools with classes of 30 or greater grouped by Local Authority

Local Authority

Number of Schools with Classes => 30

Carlow County Council

19

Cavan County Council

25

Clare County Council

38

Cork City Council

26

Cork County Council

147

Donegal County Council

54

Dublin City Council

64

Dun Laoghaire Rathdown

41

Fingal County Council

49

Galway City Council

11

Galway County Council

69

Kerry County Council

48

Kildare County Council

60

Kilkenny County Council

36

Laois County Council

27

Leitrim County Council

12

Limerick City and County Council

65

Longford County Council

11

Louth County Council

36

Mayo County Council

44

Meath County Council

74

Monaghan County Council

31

Offaly County Council

25

Roscommon County Council

26

Sligo County Council

20

South Dublin County Council

49

Tipperary County Council

55

Waterford City and County Council

29

Westmeath County Council

31

Wexford County Council

54

Wicklow County Council

42

Grand Total

1318

Covid-19 Pandemic

Questions (615, 616)

Éamon Ó Cuív

Question:

615. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Education if schools have the right to exclude or prohibit students from attending post-primary schools due to the fact that they cannot wear a face covering for medical reasons; the educational provision that will be made for such pupils, particularly leaving certificate year pupils, in the event that they are excluded from school; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22392/20]

View answer

Éamon Ó Cuív

Question:

616. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Education the right of appeal or review by students and their parents against a ruling excluding them from school due to the fact that they cannot wear a face covering for medical reasons which is certified by their general practitioner; the role of her Department in ensuring that all pupils have access to education; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22393/20]

View answer

Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 615 and 616 together.

The Department received advice from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) on the use of face coverings in educational settings on the 6th August 2020. The advice from the HPSC to the Department has recommended that face coverings should be worn by teachers, staff and students attending post primary schools when a physical distance of 2 meters from other staff or students cannot be maintained.

The advice also provides that cloth face coverings should not be worn by any of the following groups:

- any person with difficulty breathing

- any person who is unconscious or incapacitated

- any person who is unable to remove the face-covering without assistance

- any person who has special needs and who may feel upset or very uncomfortable wearing the face covering, for example persons with intellectual or developmental disabilities, mental health conditions, sensory concerns or tactile sensitivity.

A medical certificate should be provided to the school where an exemptions is sought on the above grounds. Students in these categories can continue to attend school as normal while observing arrangements for hand hygienic, physical distancing etc.

Advice for schools on the use of face coverings is available in the COVID-19 Response Plans for schools published on the www.gov.ie/backtoschool.

Special Educational Needs

Questions (617)

Joe O'Brien

Question:

617. Deputy Joe O'Brien asked the Minister for Education the status of plans for an extension to a school (details supplied) which will provide for an ASD unit. [22396/20]

View answer

Written answers

I am pleased to inform the Deputy that the project to which refers has been devolved to the school for delivery under my Department's Additional Accommodation Scheme 2019. Funding has been provided to deliver a 4 classroom SEN base in that context. As it is a devolved project, it is a matter for the school authorities to progress it.

School Transport

Questions (618)

Patricia Ryan

Question:

618. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Education if the €25.50 grant will be extended for driving a child to school to parents in rural areas in which no bus service is available. [22411/20]

View answer

Written answers

School Transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department. In the current school year over 120,000 children, including over 14,200 children with special educational needs, are 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 €219m in 2019.

Under the terms of the School Transport Scheme primary children are eligible for transport where they reside not less than 3.2 kms from and are attending their nearest national school as determined by the Department/Bus Éireann, having regard to ethos and language. Post Primary children are eligible for transport where they reside not less than 4.8 kms from and are attending their nearest education centre as determined by the Department/Bus Éireann, having regard to ethos and language.

Children who are eligible for school transport and who have completed the application process on time will be accommodated on school transport services where such services are in operation. Where there is no service available the Remote Area Grant will be offered towards the cost of providing private transport for children in remote areas.

In the first instance an application must be made on the Bus Éireann website for School Transport (www.buseireann.ie) before the closing date (late applications are accepted but if pupils are entitled to the grant they will not receive it for the 2020/2021 school year as the closing date was the last Friday in April 2020).

If Bus Eireann confirm that a pupil is eligible for school transport and there is no service operating from where they reside then the pupil may be entitled to the Remote Area Grant. The grant is paid at the end of each school year as it is based on school attendance. Where there is no transport service available for eligible children, Bus Éireann will forward the applicants’ details to the Department, who will then contact families directly regarding the Remote Area Grant.

Supervision and Substitution Scheme

Questions (619)

Cian O'Callaghan

Question:

619. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Education the reason some schools are not part of a cluster to provide substitute supply panels (details supplied); if the criteria which determines if a school is part of a cluster and thus allocated to a panel will be provided; if recourse is available to a school that is not allocated access to a panel and is seeking inclusion; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22427/20]

View answer

Written answers

The Roadmap for the Full Return to School provides for comprehensive supports across a range of areas to allow for the safe reopening of schools.

Among the supports provided is the extension of the Substitute Teacher Supply Panel. The scheme has been expanded from a pilot scheme consisting of 6 base schools to over 100 base schools, providing substitute cover to over 2,000 schools across the country.

The base schools were firstly identified in conjunction with the INTO and primary management bodies. The INTO and management bodies made contact with these schools with a view to being a base for that location.

In forming the Supply Panel clusters, my Department's GIS system identified the receiving schools based on distance from the base school. Teaching posts were allocated to each Supply Panel cluster based on the number of permanent teaching positions in the schools in the cluster and the distance to the base school.

A Supply Panel cluster has been established in the Dublin 17 area. Our Lady Immaculate SNS is the base school for the cluster and the other schools referred to by the Deputy are part of cluster.

State Examinations

Questions (620)

Marc MacSharry

Question:

620. Deputy Marc MacSharry asked the Minister for Education if school profiling based on the performance of previous years will now not proceed for fear it could discriminate against high performance students from disadvantaged areas; her views on whether a high performance student in a disadvantaged area will naturally be in the upper end of the bell curve of the school in circumstances (details supplied) in the context of forthcoming examination results; the reason for abandoning the initial intention to adopt profiling of schools based on consistent output scoring; the reason for the introduction of a system by which the scoring output of schools will now increase their overall scoring average without reference to previous years and the mean performance of same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22428/20]

View answer

Written answers

The design of the Calculated Grades model was informed by advice from a Technical Working Group comprising experts drawn from the State Examinations Commission, the Inspectorate of my Department, the Educational Research Centre, and international external expertise.

The standardisation process undertaken was an iterative statistical modelling, which by its very nature, was an evolving model.

Research makes clear that because teacher judgments are made in the context of each school, they need to be examined and adjusted at a national level to ensure comparability across different schools and that a common national standard is applied.

Schools will have taken different approaches to providing estimated percentage marks for their students. While clear guidance was provided to schools in avoiding bias during the process of estimating marks for their students, it is inevitable that some schools will have been overly harsh in their estimations while others will have been overly generous. This is to be expected given that there is no national standard on which to base an estimated percentage mark.

The standardisation process seeks to bring schools into line with each other across a national standard. This results in some estimated marks being reduced while others will have increased. This process also ensures that the results issued in 2020 will have the same status as those issued in previous or future years.

The Leaving Certificate results from any one year are considered equivalent to the results from any other year. This is because the results each year are subject to a process of national standardisation through the marking processes undertaken by the State Examinations Commission. This year, the national standardisation process combines the school-sourced data and certain historical data to ensure the Calculated Grades reflect standards that are properly aligned across schools and with a national standard.

On 1 September, I announced details in relation to the Calculated Grades model following approval of proposals made to Government. The change proposed removed the use of school-by-school historical data in the standardisation model. I was conscious that the use of such data had been criticised in public commentary about calculated grades and that it had led in other jurisdictions to accusations that students attending disadvantaged schools in those jurisdictions were at risk of being treated unfairly.

The change made placed a greater emphasis on the estimated marks provided by schools to individual students. The process, through the examination and adjustment of estimated percentage marks from schools, still fulfilled its key role of ensuring that the calculated grades iron out the unfairness that could arise when different schools applied various standards when judging the performance of students.

Technical details of the Calculated Grades model and standardisation process have been published on the date of issue of the results. To issue the technical detail of the modelling process in advance of the release of grades would risk detracting from the core principle of providing the most fair and equitable set of results for each candidate. It may have also increased anxiety levels among students as they may have begun to speculate on the final grade they were to receive.

Special Educational Needs

Questions (621)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin

Question:

621. Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin asked the Minister for Education if she will report on the educational access difficulties for a child (details supplied) [22429/20]

View answer

Written answers

My Department provides an extensive range of supports for pupils with Specific Speech and Language Disorder (SSLD). This includes provision for the establishment of special classes for pupils with SSLD in primary schools.

A total of 63 Specific Speech and Language Disorder special classes in mainstream primary schools have been provided for the 2019/20 school year. This compares to 60 such special classes in 2011/12. In the period 2011 to 2019, the number of SSLD special classes has ranged from 60 - 65, depending on need.

The National Council for Special Education (NCSE), through its network of local Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs), is responsible for processing applications from schools for special educational needs supports, including applications to establish special classes for SSLD. Applications meeting the criteria for establishment are approved by the NCSE. My Department is not involved in individual placement of children.

The opening and retention of a Speech and Language class is, however, contingent on the HSE being in a position to provide Speech and Language therapy to the students in the class. The availability and provision of speech and language therapy is the responsibility of the Health Service Executive (HSE).

The enrolment of pupils in an SSLD special class is managed locally by an Admissions & Discharges Committee, comprising the Speech and Language Therapy Manager, Speech and Language Therapist, Class Teacher and Principal.

Students who are not enrolled in a special class for SSLD and who meet the criteria for Specific Speech and Language Disorder, as outlined in Circular 0038/2007, may qualify for additional Special Education Teaching support; as may students with mild speech and language difficulties. It is a matter for individual schools to use their professional judgement to identify pupils who will receive this support and to use the resources available to the school to intervene at the appropriate level with such students. My Department is not directly involved in these decisions.

As outlined in my Department's Circular 0038/2007, eligible pupils may spend up to two years in Specific Speech and Language Disorder Classes.

The NCSE are currently developing Policy Advice on Special Classes and Special Schools, which is now due to be completed by December 2020.

There will be no change to the criteria for enrolment in special classes for pupils with speech and language difficulties, pending the outcome of this Policy Advice

In circumstances, where no placement is available for a child with Special Educational Needs, the Department can provide Home Tuition grant funding towards the provision of 20 hours home tuition per week as an interim measure until the NCSE confirms that a placement is available.

Home Tuition will not be available where a school placement has been identified by the NCSE. Similarly, failure to enrol a child in school will not give rise to eligibility under this scheme.

It is understood that this child has a school placement and the NCSE is engaging with the family with regard to the child's needs and appropriate placement.

Question No. 622 answered with Question No. 606.

Departmental Offices

Questions (623)

Denis Naughten

Question:

623. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Education the number of vacant desk spaces available in accommodation allocated to her Department in Civil Service accommodation outside Dublin city; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22478/20]

View answer

Written answers

My Department does not maintain data on the number of desks spaces available, however space utilisation is maximised with the support of the Office of Public Works. Approximately 68% of the staff complement in my Department are based outside Dublin. Within the larger offices in Tullamore and Athlone, there was a greater than 100% subscription for the available desk spaces. A number of refurbishment and reconfiguration programmes were undertaken earlier this year to increase the number of desk spaces available to staff. In addition, approximately 18% of staff occupy office space in close to 40 other locations as part of the National Education Physiological Service and Inspectorate networks. This office space is largely fully occupied.

My Department is actively monitoring desk occupancy across all offices particularly in the context of Covid related measures and prevailing protocols.

Schools Building Projects

Questions (624)

Paul Kehoe

Question:

624. Deputy Paul Kehoe asked the Minister for Education the status of progress on a building project for a school (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22496/20]

View answer

Written answers

I wish to advise the Deputy that the project brief for the school in question is currently being finalised and this is expected to be completed shortly. This will then facilitate the progression of the project into the architectural planning process.

Special Educational Needs

Questions (625)

Denis Naughten

Question:

625. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Education further to Parliamentary Question No. 193 of 18 December 2019, the provisions over and above that are available to children with hearing loss made for the 49 children in counties Mayo and Roscommon that had their hearing misdiagnosed by the HSE; the specific resources set aside for the children; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22507/20]

View answer

Written answers

Following a meeting between my Department and the HSE in September 2018, it was agreed that where children identified by the HSE Audiology Review have a special educational need arising from their hearing impairment, my Department would provide support, in line with its various schemes. Supports provided would be based on children's individual needs, irrespective of the cause of those needs.

Where supports under my Department’s various schemes were refused due to ineligibility, funding has in certain cases been provided by the HSE. It is acknowledged that this led to delays in the provision of supports however. In conjunction with the HSE, my Department reviewed the procedures involved where the schools of children identified by this review wish to apply for supports, in order to establish if there was a more efficient way of making provision.

On foot of this review, the Minister approved, as an exceptional measure, the provision of certain special educational needs supports outside the terms of my Department’s schemes.

In July of this year, both the parents of 9 children and their schools were informed of this.

Where the school wishes to apply for assistive technology for these pupils in future, it should do so in the usual way, i.e. by submitting the relevant application form to the local SENO or Visiting Teacher. Applications received will be reviewed as a matter of priority, and the SENO will provide my Department with a recommendation as early as possible.

Where the SENO recommends that the application meets the criteria, funding will be provided to the school through the assistive technology scheme, as normal.

Where the application does not meet the criteria however, and it is established that the equipment in question has not already been funded either by my Department or the HSE, then funding may be provided by my Department, outside of the terms of the scheme.

The equipment for which funding may be provided is as follows:

- Laptops

- Tablet computers

- Soundfield systems

- Radio Aids

The schools in question were advised that if they had previously applied for equipment under the Assistive Technology scheme, and had the application refused and if the equipment was not subsequently funded by the HSE, the school should write directly to Special Education Section of my Department, with a copy of the refusal letter, and request a review of the previously refused application.

The school should only submit applications where the specific equipment is recommended in a professional report and the school’s view is that it is essential for the pupil’s education.

Funding for chair silencers (or “Chair Sox”) is not provided under any of my Department’s schemes. If silencers are required however, and have not been separately funded by the HSE, then the school may apply to my Department for funding towards their purchase. The application for funding can be made in writing, and a quotation should be attached to same.

Assurances have previously been made in respect of additional teaching support. The schools in question were also requested to notify Special Education Section on the level and extent of special education teaching support provided to these children from the school’s allocation of hours since the introduction of the Special Education Teaching allocation model in 2017, as well as details of the level and extent of support that is proposed to provide for the 2020/21 school year. This process of engagement is still ongoing.

Schools Building Projects

Questions (626)

David Stanton

Question:

626. Deputy David Stanton asked the Minister for Education further to Parliamentary Question No. 48 of 30 July 2020, the expected date of publication of the tender and appointment of a contractor for the construction of schools (details supplied); the status of project development; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22514/20]

View answer

Written answers

The building project referred to by the Deputy is being delivered under my Department’s Design and Build Programme.

I am pleased to advise the Deputy that planning permission has been secured for the project and the Departments Project Management team are currently working on the preparation of the tender documents for the tender and appointment of a Contractor.

The Department and it's PM team are also engaging with a third party contractor regarding the road network which will have to be constructed by that party in parallel with the schools building project and both parties will jointly be engaging further with Cork County Council regarding a joint construction programme as is required under the conditions of the grant of planning permission.

Ministerial Advisers

Questions (627)

Catherine Murphy

Question:

627. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Education if she will provide a schedule of advisers, special advisers and seconded civil servants working in her Department appointed and or recruited and or in an acting capacity; the roles and responsibilities attributed to each; and the salary scale for each role in tabular form. [22526/20]

View answer

Written answers

In accordance with the terms of the Public Service Management Act 1997 I will be appointing two Special Advisers to assist me in carrying out my ministerial functions at the Department which will not be subject to a civil service secondment arrangement.

The current salary scale applicable to the position of Special Adviser is as follows:

Point

Amount

1

€87,325

2

€90,920

3

€94,487

4

€98,082

5

€101,114

6

€104,258

7

€107,399

Summer Works Scheme

Questions (628)

Michael Ring

Question:

628. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Education the funding available to completely replace a roof on a school (details supplied) in view of the fact that its summer works scheme application was unsuccessful; his plans to fund schools such as this that were not successful in the scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22542/20]

View answer

Written answers

I wish to clarify for the Deputy that, in relation to the application to which he refers, and commensurate with the level of funding set aside for the Summer Works Scheme, applications are being assessed on a top down basis in accordance with the prioritisation criteria outlined in the Circular accompanying the Scheme. In that regard, applications submitted under categories 2 to 10, including the project to which the Deputy refers, will be considered under future rounds of the Summer Works Scheme.

In the meantime, it is open to the school in question to apply for funding under my Department's Emergency Works Scheme to address those issues with the roof of the school that require the most immediate attention and which meet the criteria for funding under that scheme. These are set out on the Department's website at the following web address: https://www.education.ie/en/Schools-Colleges/Services/Building-Works/Emergency-Works/.

School Transport

Questions (629)

Michael Ring

Question:

629. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Education when school transport will be provided for a pupil (details supplied) in County Mayo in view of the fact that the bus service is only being availed of by one pupil at present; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22543/20]

View answer

Written answers

School Transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the 2019/20 school year over 120,000 children, including over 14,200 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 €219m in 2019.

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.

The closing date for payment for the 2020/2021 school year was Tuesday 4th August 2020. All children who are eligible for school transport and who applied and paid by the deadline have been accommodated on school transport services where such services are in operation.

Bus Éireann has advised that the application for the pupil referred to by the Deputy was carried forward up to the 2019/20 school year. According to their records, this pupil was input into their system as a 6th year student in the 2019/20 school year and therefore their application did not carry forward to the 2020/21 school year. The family in this case were notified by Bus Éireann of their need to reapply if they wished to avail of transport for the 2020/21 school year. However, no application has been received to date for this pupil for the 2020/21 school year.

School Transport

Questions (630)

Michael Ring

Question:

630. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Education if school transport will be provided to siblings (details supplied) similar to previous years in view of the fact that there are vacant seats on the bus; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22544/20]

View answer

Written answers

School Transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the 2019/20 school year over 120,000 children, including over 14,200 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 €219m in 2019.

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.

The closing date for payment for the 2020/2021 school year was Tuesday 4th August 2020. All children who are eligible for school transport and who applied and paid by the deadline have been accommodated on school transport services where such services are in operation.

The School Transport Scheme Family Portal was temporarily closed for applications and payments on the 20th August 2020. This temporary closure was necessary to complete the work required to issue tickets to families who at that time remained due to be allocated a ticket for school transport services for the 2020/2021 school year.

The School Transport Scheme Family Portal has now re-opened. However, parents/guardians making an application/payment at this time for the 2020/2021 school year are reminded that the closing date for payments for the 20/21 school year was Tuesday 4th August 2020. While it is possible to submit a payment, payments made at this time are now late. Late applicants and/or families who pay late are not guaranteed a seat and will only be allocated a seat if capacity is available once seats are allocated to those families who applied and paid on time for transport services for the 2020/2021 school year.

In addition, payments for Post-Primary seats completed or made after 4th August 2020 will be only considered when 50% capacity, required by new Covid-19 public health guidelines, is achieved on each route. The timeframe for this will vary from route to route and may take a number of weeks to complete.

In the event of not securing a ticket where no capacity exists, or on cancellation, a full refund will be issued.

Bus Éireann has advised that one of the siblings referred to by the Deputy availed of the service in previous year, however, a payment has not been received for the 2020/21 school year. Bus Éireann has also advised that neither an application nor payment was made for the other sibling referred to by the Deputy.

School Transport

Questions (631)

Michael Ring

Question:

631. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Education if a student (details supplied) will be provided with school transport in view of the vacancies on the bus service and the fact that they are a medical card holder; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22546/20]

View answer

Written answers

School Transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the 2019/20 school year over 120,000 children, including over 14,200 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 €219m in 2019.

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.

The closing date for payment for the 2020/2021 school year was Tuesday 4th August 2020. All children who are eligible for school transport and who applied and paid by the deadline have been accommodated on school transport services where such services are in operation.

Bus Éireann has advised that the application for the pupil referred to by the Deputy was carried forward up to the 2019/20 school year. According to their records, this pupil was input into their system as a 6th year student in the 2019/20 school year and therefore their application did not carry forward to the 2020/21 school year. The family in this case were notified by Bus Éireann of their need to reapply if they wished to avail of transport for the 2020/21 school year. However, no application has been received to date for this pupil for the 2020/21 school year.

School Transport

Questions (632)

Brendan Smith

Question:

632. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Education if the school transport portal will be reopened for late applicants for school transport in view of the serious difficulties that have arisen for many families; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22675/20]

View answer

Written answers

School Transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the 2019/20 school year over 120,000 children, including over 14,200 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 €219m in 2019.

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.

The closing date for payment for the 2020/2021 school year was Tuesday 4th August 2020. All children who are eligible for school transport and who applied and paid by the deadline have been accommodated on school transport services where such services are in operation.

The School Transport Scheme Family Portal was temporarily closed for applications and payments on the 20th August 2020. This temporary closure was necessary to complete the work required to issue tickets to families who at that time remained due to be allocated a ticket for school transport services for the 2020/2021 school year.

The School Transport Scheme Family Portal has now re-opened. However, parents/guardians making an application/payment at this time for the 2020/2021 school year are reminded that the closing date for payments for the 20/21 school year was Tuesday 4th August 2020. While it is possible to submit a payment, payments made at this time are now late. Late applicants and/or families who pay late are not guaranteed a seat and will only be allocated a seat if capacity is available once seats are allocated to those families who applied and paid on time for transport services for the 2020/2021 school year.

In addition, payments for Post-Primary seats completed or made after 4th August 2020 will be only considered when 50% capacity, required by new Covid-19 public health guidelines, is achieved on each route. The timeframe for this will vary from route to route and may take a number of weeks to complete.

In the event of not securing a ticket where no capacity exists, or on cancellation, a full refund will be issued.

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