Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 6 December 2017
69. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Education and Skills his plans to introduce a new guarantee in order to ensure no child loses their place on board a school bus if they had been allocated a concessionary seat in either junior infants or first year of secondary school. [51895/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraSchool transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department.
Currently over 114,000 children, including some 11,000 children with special educational needs, are being transported in over 4,500 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million kilometres annually.
The purpose of the School Transport Scheme is, having regard to available resources, to support the transport to and from school of children who reside remotely from their nearest school.
In general, children are eligible for school transport if they meet the distance criteria and are attending their nearest school.
Children who are not eligible for school transport may apply for transport on a concessionary basis only which is subject to a number of terms and conditions that are detailed in the scheme. The availability of concessionary transport may vary from year to year and cannot be guaranteed for the duration of a child’s school education cycle.
Children who are eligible for school transport are given priority in the allocation of seats on school transport services.
The terms of the School Transport Schemes are applied equitably on a national basis.
