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.
There has been an overall increase in both applications and tickets issued for the 2023/2024 school year in comparison to the 2022/2023 school year.
To date Bus Éireann has issued over133,000 tickets for mainstream school transport services. This represents an increase of over 12% in mainstream tickets issued compared to the start of the 2022/2023 school year.
The data requested by the Deputy is not available in the manner requested. Information was provided to the Deputy on 20th September 2023. The 2023/2024 data is subject to variation as Bus Éireann issue more tickets issue over the coming weeks.
In relation to the Deputy's query regarding pupils being assigned a free school transport place for the 2022/23 school year, all school transport fees were waived for the 2022/2023 school year as part of a wider cost of living package. In relation to the query of applications for the 2023/24 school year without having to reapply, I can advise that for eligible pupils availing of transport under the mainstream school transport primary and post primary scheme; eligible applications automatically roll over to the following school year on the Bus Éireann school transport portal. However families are requested to pay the required fee or enter medical card details by the closing date in order for tickets to issue.
The school transport scheme ticket cost has been reduced for the 2023/2024 school year. There is no ticket charge for eligible school children who are in receipt of medical cards and for eligible children availing of special educational needs transport.
For the 2023/2024 school year, reduced charges of €50 per student at primary level and €75 per student at post-primary level will apply, with a cap per family of €125. Ticketholders will save up to €50 at primary and €275 at post-primary, with an overall reduction in the family maximum contribution of €525 compared to the fees for 2021/2022 school year.
There is no separate application process for concessionary seats, children who are not eligible for school transport, but who complete 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.
Because of 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.
In addition, temporary alleviation measures continue for the 2023/24 school year, pending completion of the school transport scheme review. This means that transport is provided where such services are in operation, and where there is capacity to do so, for post-primary pupils who are eligible for transport to their nearest school and are attending their second nearest school and who apply and pay on time.
