Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 January 2024
630. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Education the details of the required number of eligible students needed on a school bus route for a larger bus to be placed on the route under the school transport scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1386/24]
View answer631. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Education if there is a requirement for eligible students to live within a certain distance of an already established school bus route for them to receive a place on the bus; her Department's policy for altering established bus routes to accommodate eligible students under the school transport scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1387/24]
View answer632. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Education if school bus usage is recorded; if a minimum attendance is required for a student to continue to be eligible for their school bus place under the school transport scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1388/24]
View answer633. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Education the details of the required number of eligible students needed for a new school bus route to be considered under the school transport scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1389/24]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 630, 631, 632 and 633 together.
The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the current school year over 161,600 children, including over 135,000 pupils travelling on primary and post primary services, 19,800 pupils with special educational needs, and 6,800 pupils who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine are transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country.
The total cost of the scheme in 2023 was €382.02 million.
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.
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.
Bus Éireann is responsible for the planning and timetabling of school transport routes on behalf of the Department. Safety of children travelling on the school transport services is of paramount importance to the Department and to Bus Éireann. Bus Éireann endeavours, within available resources, to ensure that each eligible child has a reasonable level of school transport service in the context of the Scheme nationally.
Routes are planned so that, as far as possible, no eligible child will have more than 3.2 kilometres to travel to a pick-up point. Children are generally expected to make their own way, or to be brought to convenient pick-up points along the main route.
There is an onus of responsibility on parents/guardians to arrange to bring their children to and from the pickup point of a school bus service, taking whatever safety precautions they consider sufficient to ensure their safety.
A minimum number of 10 eligible children residing in a distinct locality, as determined by Bus Éireann, are required before consideration may be given to the establishment or retention of school transport services, provided this can be done within reasonable cost limits.
At present, it is not possible for Bus Éireann to examine data on ticket usage as tickets are paper based. However, Bus Éireann undertook a pilot E-Ticketing project. Based on the information derived from this pilot project, it is intended to review the data and prioritise working towards E-Ticketing on all school transport scheme services . This will provide the Department and Bus Éireann with greater data on real time travel patterns.
Bus Éireann organises for vehicles to be full to capacity with tickets based on applications received and based on the seating capacity of the vehicle. For safety reasons, it is not possible to issue additional tickets over and above the seating capacity of the vehicle which could result in a potential overload situation arising and all pupils not being carried on the service.
It is recognised that all pupils issued with tickets will not travel every morning and every evening. In addition, certain after school activities may also result in pupils not travelling on certain days.
If a family decide that they no longer require their bus tickets for the current school year, they should return these tickets to their local Bus Éireann school transport office and their seats will be reallocated to other pupils wishing to avail of school transport.
