Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 5 December 2017

Select Committee on Education and Skills

Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 26 - Education and Skills (Supplementary)

4:00 pm

Photo of John HalliganJohn Halligan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

School transport is the main issue I will be dealing with. Members will be aware that it is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education and Skills. The purpose of the school transport scheme is to transport to and from school children who reside a distance from their nearest school within available resources. Children are eligible for school transport if they are attending their nearest school and meet the distance criteria, which is 3.2 km for primary school children and 4.8 km for post-primary children. The outturn for 2016 was €182 million and the cost of school transport provision in 2017 is €190 million.

The key cost drivers for the increased cost of school transport is the increased demand for the transport of children with special needs. To that end there has been an increase of 4,500 children with special needs availing of school transport services between 2012 and 2017, which is a significant increase. The unit cost for special needs provision is approximately €7,000 and the escort provision is €9,000, as per the 2011 value for money report.

The support for children with special needs available while on transport has increased from €23 million in 2016 to €25 million in 2017. The demand for individual services for children increased from 1,032 taxis in 2016 to 1,115 taxis in 2017. That is a significant cost and it is a complex operation of moving 112,000 children in buses and taxis. Of course, the objective of the scheme is that every eligible child and every child who has special needs will be brought to their nearest school. There are problems with those who travel on concession passes and I will take questions on some of the difficulties later on.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.