Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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Question 176: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he can advise on a school transport issue (details supplied) in County Limerick; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17210/11]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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Question 182: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will review the decision to alter a school bus route (details supplied) County Limerick in view of the fact that the parents and stakeholders of the school have identified an alternative to the removal of the service which they believe will not come at an increased cost to the Department. [17226/11]

Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 176 and 182 together.

I wish to inform the Deputy that school transport arrangements under the Closed School Rule originated from the last major amalgamation of schools in the late 1960s. Under the Closed School Rule, transport is generally provided to the school of amalgamation for pupils who reside in a closed school area. However, over the course of the last forty two years, many parts of Ireland have experienced changes in population, the number of schools in an area may have increased and private transport is more widely available. While my Department acknowledges the importance of school transport, my Department must always seek to ensure that every service that is funded by the public is operated in a manner that delivers for pupils, parents and taxpayers alike.

Changes to school transport services relating to the Closed School Rule and the minimum number of eligible pupils required to retain or establish a school transport service were announced in the 2011 Budget by the previous Fianna Fáil-Green Party Government and derive from recommendations in the Value for Money Review of the scheme.

Regarding the Closed School Rule (CSR) it is important to stress that there are a number of dimensions to the cessation of this rule. The first of these, which will be implemented from September 2011, involves the uniform application of the distance criterion to all pupils travelling under the primary transport scheme, including those travelling under the CSR. This means that children residing less than 3.2 kilometres from their school of amalgamation will be deemed ineligible for school transport. In such cases, these children may apply for concessionary transport.

A further change which will take effect in September 2011 is the increase from 7 to 10 in the number of eligible pupils, residing in a distinct locality, required to retain or establish a school transport service. In general, this means that the minimum number required to establish or retain a service broadly represents a return to 2002 levels. Again it is important to stress that families of eligible pupils, for whom there is no school transport service available, may apply for a grant towards the cost of making private transport arrangements.