Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 October 2023
185. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Education the steps her Department is taking to address the school transport routes in County Clare that are currently without a driver; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43577/23]
View answerThe 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 133,000 tickets have issued for the 2023/2024 school year which is an increase of 12% when compared with the start of the 2022/2023 school year. The number of tickets issued has already exceeded the total number of tickets issued in the 2022/23 school year.
In recent weeks, Bus Éireann issued tickets for school transport on bus services that had been secured. Unfortunately a number of difficulties have arisen in some localities involving a small number of contracted services, including services in the Clare area.
Bus Éireann is working intensively to ensure that transport arrangements are put in place as soon as possible. The School Transport team is continuing to prioritise arrangements to ensure transport can be sourced and put in place as soon as possible.
In situations where a ticket has issued and a service was not in place on 1 September 2023, and until such time as a service is in place, an Exceptional No Service Interim Grant will be made available to families retrospectively to assist with the cost of private transport arrangements they have to put in place until services begin. This payment will be paid as an exceptional measure and will be calculated from the date the service was due to commence. As the payment is based on the number of days a child attends school up until the time a service has commenced it cannot be paid in advance. There is no need to apply for the grant, the Department has contacted families directly in relation to this exceptional grant.
Bus Éireann is providing those affected by the contractor/driver issues with regular updates on the status of their transport service. However, please be advised that Bus Éireann has put in place a dedicated customer care call centre and a ‘contact form’ on their website (buseireann.ie/schooltransport) to assist families specifically with School Transport queries. Families that have queries can contact the call centre on: LoCall 0818 919 910. Operating hours are 09.00 – 17.00 Monday to Friday.
