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 134,000 mainstream 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 so far has already exceeded the total number of tickets issued in the 2022/23 school year.
The purpose of the Department's School Transport Scheme is, having regard to available resources, to support the transport to and from school of children who reside remote from their nearest school.
Children are eligible for transport at primary level where they reside not less than 3.2 kilometres from and are attending their nearest national school, and at post primary level where they reside not less than 4.8 kilometres from and are attending their nearest post primary school/education centre as determined by the Department/Bus Éireann, having regard to ethos and language.
Children who are eligible for school transport and who have completed the application process on time are accommodated on school transport services where such services are in operation and where capacity exist.
In addition, Temporary Alleviation Measures at post-primary level are being continued for the current school year. Under these measures, which were initially introduced in 2019, transport is provided where routes are in place and where capacity exists for concessionary post-primary pupils who are eligible for transport to their nearest school and are attending their second nearest school and who applied and paid on time.
Children who are not eligible for school transport, but who completed the application process on time, are considered for spare seats that may exist after eligible children have been facilitated; such seats are referred to as concessionary seats.
In general the pupils from the above areas are not eligible for school transport as they are attending their 3rd or 4th closest school. However my Department has received correspondence from two schools in relation to their capacity and availability to enrol pupils outside of their catchment area and this is being assessed by both School Transport Section with regard to capacity issues in the area which have been highlighted to the Planning and Building Unit and also by Bus Éireann who will reassess the eligibility status of students based on this information.
If the eligibility of a pupil is changed following the above assessments, Bus Éireann will contact the families directly.
