Deputy Norma Foley (Minister for Education):

I thank the Chairman and members for the invitation to appear here today. To assist me, I am joined by officials from my Department, Ms Conduit, who is an assistant secretary general, and Ms Kearney, who is a principal officer.

The school transport scheme is an administrative scheme that was established in 1968. It was created to facilitate access to primary and post-primary education for children who, because of where they reside, might have difficulty attending school regularly otherwise. The scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department. In the 2021-22 school year, over 121,400 children and young people, including more than 15,500 with special educational needs, were transported daily to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country. In 2021, the total cost of providing school transport amounted to €289 million. This includes direct transport services and grant payments. It also includes funding to schools for the employment of escorts to accompany children with special educational needs whose care and safety needs require this support.

In July 2022, the Government announced funding for the waiving of school transport scheme fees for the 2022-23 school year as part of a wider package of cost-of-living measures. In the context of increasing costs of living, with a view to easing the financial burden on families, I announced measures to reduce the cost to families for school transport services. These temporary measures were in addition to the reduction in the family cap announced by the Government in February 2022 to mitigate the cost of living and provided for the waiver of ticket charges for the 2022-23 school year. These measures will provide families with savings of up to €500 on the cost of tickets. Originally, this was €650 prior to the introduction of the cap.

School transport ticket registration for the 2022-23 school year closed on 29 July, by which time almost 130,000 applications or registrations were received for mainstream school transport. This figure includes 44,299 new applications, as well as rollovers from the previous school year. Some 124,000 tickets for the mainstream scheme alone have already been issued to applicants for the 2022-23 school year. At the beginning of the last school year, approximately 103,600 children were carried on mainstream school transport services, so in the region of 20,400 additional places have already been created. The temporary waiving of fees has led to an unprecedented expansion of the scheme, with many more eligible and concessionary applicants receiving tickets than ever before. There has been an increase in tickets allocated across all counties, with an increase of 18% in the number of tickets issued to eligible pupils compared with the position at the beginning of the 2021-22 school year, and an increase of 27% in the number of tickets issued to concessionary pupils compared with the 2021-22 school year. Notwithstanding this, I acknowledge that the huge increase in applications has led to frustration over delays issuing tickets in some instances.

I assure the committee that Bus Éireann will continue to work intensively in all regions to process applications and issue tickets as soon as buses and drivers are sourced and become available to provide transport for the higher numbers qualifying for the service. It is important to note that the normal eligibility criteria of the scheme still apply and tickets continue to be allocated in line with these criteria. Pupils at primary level are eligible where they live no less than 3.2 km from, and are attending, the nearest primary school. At post-primary level, students who live no less than 4.8 km from and are attending their nearest or next-nearest post-primary school are deemed eligible. Any pupils or students who do not meet these criteria are deemed not eligible, or otherwise known as concessionary applicants and are allocated a ticket based on the availability of a seat when all eligible children have been catered for.

There has been an unprecedented increase in applications from families whose children are eligible for school transport this year. These children must be prioritised as the scheme dictates. I am aware that this has led to particular frustration this year for some families whose children attend their third-, fourth- or even fifth-closest school or live within the distance limits, who held tickets previously and did not receive one this year. This is directly due to the much higher numbers of eligible children applying. These children must be facilitated. I know that many families, whatever their eligibility status, rely on the scheme and this consideration is being factored into the analysis under way as part of the review of the scheme.

For this year, in line with normal practice, all eligible children who completed the application and ticket registration process on time for the 2022-23 school year will be accommodated on school transport services, where such services are in operation. In addition, pending completion of the outcome of the full review of the school transport scheme, temporary alleviation measures at post-primary level will continue for the 2022-23 school year.

Under these measures transport is provided for post-primary pupils who are eligible for transport to their nearest school and are attending their second nearest school. They must have applied by 29 April 2022 and registered for a ticket by 29 July 2022. The online account management system, known as the family portal, which had been closed since registration shut, on 29 July, reopened on Thursday, 25 August 2022. The reopening of the portal will enable account holders to check the status of applications which have been processed. While the reopening of the portal also facilitates the late applications process, it is very important for families to note that the application deadline for the 2022-2023 year was 29 April 2022 and the deadline to confirm registration was 29 July 2022. Any application completed after this date is a late application. Therefore many school transport services are already operating at full capacity. Late applications can only be assessed after all on-time applications have been processed. Places are not guaranteed for late applicants.

The Department is continuing to conduct a review of the school transport scheme which includes an examination of the current scheme and how it currently operates; its broader effectiveness and sustainability; and whether it adequately supports the provision of services to students and their families. The review encompasses the school transport scheme for children with special educational needs. The review of the primary and post-primary school transport schemes will examine each element of the schemes including eligibility criteria, trends, costs, cost-drivers and overall effectiveness in meeting the objectives of the scheme. The review will also examine the potential for integration of different strands of the scheme and a more co-ordinated approach with other Departments that also use transport services.

Wider considerations relating to the operation of the scheme are taking place in the current phase of the review. As part of this, the technical working group has undertaken extensive consultation, including running a public survey for parents, guardians and students who use the service as well as those who do not use the service but would like to. These engagements have yielded extensive data for consideration. The group has also consulted with a broad array of stakeholders including schools, special education interest groups, industry representatives and other Departments. While work on the review was impacted somewhat by the challenges of the pandemic and the impact of the current conflict in Ukraine, it is anticipated that the final phases of the review will be completed shortly with recommendations on the future operation of the Department's school transport scheme. The steering group will continue to report to me on an interim basis as the review progresses.

Once again I thank the committee for the invitation to appear here today and I am happy to answer questions and deal with any queries that committee members have.