Matt Carthy
Question:122. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Education the number of applicants from County Monaghan for the school transport scheme who have yet to receive a bus ticket. [57720/22]
View answerThursday, 24 November 2022
Questions (122)
Written answers
The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of my 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. The cost of the scheme in 2021 was €289m.
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 does not include special Education transport. This figure includes 44,299 new applications as well as roll-overs from the previous school year.
This time last year there were circa 103,600 children on school transport scheme services. Already over 127,800 tickets for the 2022/2023 school year have been issued to applicants for the new school year, so already in the region of 24,200 additional places have been created.
Bus Éireann have confirmed that by 8th November circa 4,000 tickets issued to families in Monaghan, this is a 26% increase on tickets issued for the 2021/2022 school year.
All children who are eligible for school transport and who have completed the application process on time have been accommodated on school transport services where such services are in operation.
In addition, pending completion of the outcome of the full review of the School Transport Scheme, Temporary Alleviation Measures at post-primary level have continued for the 2022/2023 school year.
Under these measures, transport is provided for post-primary pupils who are eligible for transport to their nearest school but who are attending their second nearest school and who applied by the 29th April and registered for a ticket by the 29th July.
As part of the budgetary process, some additional funding has been approved for the scheme which has allowed officials in the Department of Education, in consultation with Bus Éireann, to consider and evaluate where additional capacity may be available. Bus Éireann have been prioritising areas where there were “on time concessionary pupils” who had tickets previously.
It is important to stress that this expansion to on time concessionary pupils 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.
While there is a late application process, it is very important for families to note that the application deadline for 2022/23 was 29 April 2022, and that the deadline to confirm registration for tickets was 29 July 2022. Any application completed after this date is a ‘late application’ and therefore, many school transport services are already operating at full capacity.
While a number of late applications have been received, eligibility can only be determined at the time of assessment, these applications will only be assessed after all “on time” applications have been processed and there can be no guarantee of places for late applicants.