Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 June 2023
294. Deputy Marc MacSharry asked the Minister for Education if she will review the case of two children who live more than 3.2 km from their local school who have been turned down for school transport (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29080/23]
View answerThe School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the current school year, over 149,000 children, including over 18,000 children with special educational needs, are transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country.
There has been an increase of 21% in tickets issued to eligible students and 38% increase in tickets issued on a concessionary basis in the current 2022/23 school year compared to the 2021/22 school year.
In addition, school transport scheme services are being provided in the current school year for over 5,400 children who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine.
The total cost of the scheme in 2022 was €338.9m.
Under the terms of the Primary School Transport Scheme, children are eligible for school transport where they reside not less than 3.2kms from and are attending their nearest Primary School as determined by the Department/Bus Éireann, having regard to ethos and language.
Children who are not eligible for school transport, but who completed the application and payment process on time, will be considered for spare seats that may exist after eligible children have been facilitated; such seats are referred to as concessionary seats.
Due to the nature of concessionary transport for non-eligible children and the priority of providing places for eligible children, there may be an excess of demand over supply for concessionary places, in these cases Bus Éireann will allocate tickets for spare seats using an agreed selection process.Under the terms of the scheme, the availability of concessionary transport varies from year to year based on the capacity on the buses running on all of the various routes and the number of eligible children accommodated on each route.
Routes will not be extended or altered, additional vehicles will not be introduced, nor will larger vehicles or extra trips using existing vehicles be provided to cater for children travelling on a concessionary basis.
Bus Eireann have confirmed, that the family to whom the Deputy refers, are not eligible for school transport as they are not attending their nearest primary school. The family reside 3.7kms to their nearest school and 4.8kms from their school of attendance. They cannot be considered for concessionary transport as there is no service operating from where they reside to the school of attendance.
