School Transport

Monday, 11 September 2023

Questions (633)

Verona Murphy

Question:

633. Deputy Verona Murphy asked the Minister for Education to clarify the allocation process of bus tickets for concessionary secondary school bus routes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37949/23]

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Written answers

Minister for Education

The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the 2022/2023 school year, over 149,000 children, including over 18,000 children with special educational needs, were transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country.

There was an increase of 21% in tickets issued to eligible students and an increase of 38% in tickets issued on a concessionary basis in the 2022/23 school year compared to the 2021/22 school year.

In addition, school transport scheme services were provided for over 5,400 children who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine.

The total cost of the scheme in 2022 was €338.9m.

Already over 132,000 tickets have issued for the 2023/2024 school year which is an increase of 12% when compared with the same time last year. This number of tickets has already exceeded the total number of tickets issued in the 2022/23 school year.

Children who are not eligible for school transport, under the terms of the scheme, may apply to Bus Éireann for transport on a concessionary basis subject to a number of conditions, including, if there is a suitable service, as determined by Bus Éireann, operating into their school of attendance, if there is spare capacity on the service, 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.

Question No. 634 answered with Question No. 629.

Question No. 635 answered with Question No. 625.

Question No. 636 answered with Question No. 625.

Question No. 637 answered with Question No. 625.

Question No. 638 answered with Question No. 625.