Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 30 July 2020
626. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide clear guidance and details of the additional school transport resources that will be put in place in counties Longford and Westmeath to ensure schoolchildren can avail of the service. [20851/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraSchool Transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department.
In the 2019/20 school year over 120,000 children, including over 14,200 children with special educational needs, were transported in over 5,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million kilometres at a cost of over €219m in 2019.
The purpose of my 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.
Under the terms of the scheme, children are eligible for school transport if they satisfy the distance criteria and are attending their nearest school as determined by the Department/Bus Éireann, having regard to ethos and language. Distance eligibility is determined by Bus Éireann by measuring the shortest traversable route from the child’s home to the relevant school.
All children who are eligible for school transport and who complete the application and payment process on time are accommodated on school transport services where such services are in operation.
Children who are not eligible for school transport may apply for transport on a concessionary basis only and may be facilitated where spare seats are available after eligible children have been accommodated. Where the number of ineligible children who complete the application and payment process on time exceeds the number of spare seats available Bus Éireann will allocate tickets for the spare seats using an agreed selection process.
Last autumn my Department announced a review of the School Transport Scheme with a view to ensuring funds are being spent in the most effective way to meet the objectives of the scheme. The review will build on the proposals in the Programme for Government as they relate to school transport.
With regard to re-opening schools for the 2020/21 school year, I have announced a comprehensive plan detailing a package of measures and resources to be provided to facilitate schools in re-opening. I have also published a detailed roadmap for the full return to school. This roadmap set outs how schools will reopen for all students from the end of August. It has been developed in line with public health advice issued by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC), the Roadmap for Society and Business and follows comprehensive and intensive engagement with all relevant stakeholders including Bus Éireann, the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and the National Transport Authority on the logistical considerations that arise in planning for the operation of school transport services for the reopening of our schools.
School Transport Scheme services operated by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department will fully operate as normal, in line with public health advice, when schools re-open for the 2020/2021 school year with the appropriate hygiene and other measures in place.
