Seán Sherlock
Question:908. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Education if the case of a child (details supplied) who has no school transport will be addressed. [43220/22]
View answerThursday, 8 September 2022
Questions (908)
Written answers
The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department. In the last school year over 121,400 children, including over 15,500 children with special educational needs, are transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country at a cost of over €289m in 2021.
In July 2022, Government announced funding for the waiving of school transport scheme fees for the coming school year as part of a wider package of cost of living measures.
Ticket registration for the 2022/23 school year closed on 29 July by which time almost 130,000 applications/registrations were received for mainstream school transport. This figure includes 44,299 new applications as well as roll-overs from the previous school year.
The pupil referred to by the Deputy was unsuccessful in acquiring a ticket for the 2022/2023 school year as they did not complete the ticket registration process by the closing date of 29 July. The service referred to by the Deputy in this area are currently operating at capacity.