Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 September 2022
977. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Education if school transport will be provided for a certain route given the circumstances of some pupils (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43738/22]
View answerThe 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, were transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country at a cost of over €289m in 2021.
The Department of Education and Bus Éireann have a process to facilitate the provision of School Transport Scheme Services for children arriving to Ireland from Ukraine.
For children residing with a host family or for children of Ukrainian families living in their own private accommodation, an application for school transport can be made via a link to a form on gov.ie/ukraine.
For families and children residing in accommodation centres (or similar), school principals may apply for transport for children attending their school who are residing in such accommodation. School principals should complete the information required on a form which is available on Gov.ie and return it to their local REALT co-ordinator. Full information is available on gov.ie/ukraine via the link below:
www.gov.ie/en/publication/320e9-employment-and-education/#education
Children will be accommodated on existing services where there is capacity, normal eligibility criteria will be waived. If there is no service or capacity, a grant can be offered to the family as appropriate.
Officials in School Transport Section will be happy to assist with any queries families may have in relation to transport provision for children arriving from Ukraine. They can be contacted at: transportapplications@education.gov.ie.
