Niamh Smyth
Question:358. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Education the reason that a person (details supplied) cannot get a bus ticket for their children; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40333/23]
View answerWednesday, 20 September 2023
Questions (358)
Written answers
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.
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.
Under the terms of the Primary School Transport Scheme, children are eligible for transport where they reside not less than 3.2 kms 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 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 a random 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.
Bus Eireann have advised, the pupil to whom the Deputy refers to, is not eligible for school transport. However they have advised that the local office have made contact with the family as a seat on the service that could accommodate this pupil has become available on a concessionary basis.