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School Transport

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 6 June 2012

Wednesday, 6 June 2012

Ceisteanna (237, 238, 239)

Charlie McConalogue

Ceist:

226 Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of students who will be affected by changes to the primary school transport system which will require students to attend their nearest school in order to avail of free transport from September 2012; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27453/12]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Charlie McConalogue

Ceist:

227 Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills the amount of money he is intending to save through changes to the primary school transport rules which requires children to attend their nearest school from September 2012 in order to avail of free transport; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27454/12]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Charlie McConalogue

Ceist:

228 Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will reverse his plans to change primary school transport rules restricting fee transport to only those students travelling to their nearest school which in many cases will lead to families being divided and students having to break parish boundaries in order to avail of free transport; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27455/12]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

I propose to take Questions Nos. 226 to 228, inclusive, together.

Changes to the Primary School Transport Scheme were announced in Budget 2011 and derived from recommendations in the Value for Money Review of the Scheme. These changes are being applied equitably on a national basis.

Firstly, I wish to clarify that a school transport charge for eligible primary children was introduced with effect from September 2011. Children who hold valid medical cards (GM scheme) are exempt from paying a charge. The charge applying in the coming school year is €100 or a family maximum of €220.

The Deputy will be aware that from September 2011, the distance criterion of 3.2 kilometres was applied nationally to all children travelling under the primary school transport scheme, including those travelling under the ‘Closed School Rule'.

The second element of the change is scheduled to take effect in September 2012 and will apply only in the case of children commencing their primary education from that date. This second element will restrict school transport eligibility for children entering in September 2012, to those children who meet the distance eligibility criterion and are travelling to their nearest school.

The number of children who may be affected by this second change, and the savings to be achieved as a consequence of the combination of the changes, will not be known until all applications for school transport have been received and assessed by Bus Éireann. However, sample surveys undertaken by Bus Éireann show that the majority of children are in fact attending their nearest school, so this change will not have any practical impact on the majority of children.

Existing eligible children, who are not attending their nearest school, will retain their school transport eligibility for the duration of their primary education cycle provided there are no changes to their current circumstances.

Siblings of these children, who wish to attend the same school, or other children who are not eligible for transport, may apply for concessionary transport subject to a number of terms and conditions.

In this regard, it is worth noting that the annual charge for concessionary tickets will be reduced to €100 for the 2012 school year which is the same charge that applies for eligible tickets.

Question No. 229 answered with Question No. 167.
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