Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 19 October 2022
116. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Education further to Parliamentary Question No. 96 of 12 October 2022, the number of applicants from County Monaghan for the school transport scheme in 2022 who have yet to receive a bus ticket; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52317/22]
View answerSchool Transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. 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 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.
School Transport 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.
All children who are eligible and who completed the application and registration process on time will be accommodated in the 2022 school year. In addition, pending completion of the outcome of the full review of the School Transport Scheme, temporary Alleviation Measures at post-primary level be continued for the 2022/2023 school year. Under these measures transport will provided for post-primary pupils who are eligible for transport to their nearest school and are attending their second nearest school and who applied by the 29th April and registered for a ticket by the 29th July.
Any pupils/students who do not meet these criteria are deemed not eligible, or otherwise known as concessionary, applicants and are allocated a ticket based on the availability of a seat on when all eligible children have been catered for.
The information cannot be provided in the manner requested by the Deputy as applications are still being assessed and numbers are still being finalised for the 2022/23 school year.
However, Bus Éireann has advised that as of 12th October 2022, 3949 mainstream tickets have been issued in county Monaghan which includes tickets issued to eligible pupils and those travelling on a concessionary basis.
Following the budgetary process some additional funding has been approved for the scheme which will allow officials in consultation with Bus Éireann to consider and evaluate where temporary additional capacity may be available.
The initial focus will be where families applied on time and who previously held concessionary tickets, however, it is important to stress that this is subject to capacity considerations. Constraints in sourcing vehicles and drivers in certain areas of the country may also mean that it may take a number of weeks to explore solutions for additional capacity.
