Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 October 2023
206. Deputy Steven Matthews asked the Minister for Education the position regarding school bus routes (details supplied) in County Wicklow; if there is a timeline for the provision of these services; if an explanation for the delays in these routes commencing can be provided; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43825/23]
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.
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.
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.
Bus Éireann has reported in recent weeks that unfortunately, for a small number of families, assigned to mainstream and Special Educational Needs transport services that had already been secured, a number of difficulties arose in some localities with a small number of contracted services.
As of the 9th October, four mainstream and two Special Educational Needs transport services remain to be sourced in Wicklow. Three of these services are at the final stages of procurement which includes Garda vetting and vehicle/document checks and/or the school employing a school transport escort. Bus Éireann have reported that once these checks have been finalised a date of commencement of services will issue to families. Bus Éireann is working intensively to ensure that transport arrangements are put in place as soon as possible.
Bus Éireann has advised that wo of the routes mentioned by the Deputy are currently operating at present. Bus Éireann has further advised that once suitable contractors are sourced for any remaining services, they will contact the families directly.
Both the Department and Bus Éireann are very conscious of the challenges faced by parents awaiting transport for mainstream and students with special educational needs. Families of children who are eligible for these services may therefore avail of the Exceptional No Service Interim Grant for mainstream services and the Special Transport Grant for Special Educational Needs services. These are once off payments, paid retrospectively to families once the School Transport service is in place and is to assist with the cost of private transport arrangements the family had put in place until services are finalised.
This exceptional payment will be based on the number of days a child attends school, calculated from the date the service was due to begin. 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 and will be made available to families retrospectively. Families do not need to make an application for the exceptional payment, those who have been issued a ticket, and do not have a service in place, have been contacted directly by the Department of Education with full details of this exceptional payment.
Bus Éireann will continue to keep families updated in relation to transport services.
