Mr. Seán Ó Foghlú:

I thank the Chairman and the committee for the invitation to appear before it. I will not read my full opening statement given the tightness of time. I will focus on our response to the recommendations.

The Department’s general agreement with the recommendations is recorded in the Comptroller and Auditor General's report. As the Comptroller and Auditor General has stated, progress has been made on implementing the recommendations since that time.

On forecasting, while the school transport scheme continues to be a demand-led scheme, in planning for projected demand the Department liaises closely with the National Council for Special Education in regard to projected enrolment trends at primary and post-primary. The Department is undertaking a route audit with independent professional advice to ensure that route design is optimised from a value for money point of view, taking into account the location of eligible children. In the process of preparing for that review, the Department worked with Bus Éireann on the digitisation of its route maps.

The Department has strengthened the governance framework around school transport and continues to do so. We have worked with Bus Éireann to put in place a number of additional elements of our governance framework, which builds on the 1975 arrangement that underpins our relationship with Bus Éireann on school transport provision. A service level agreement has been put in place between the two organisations. This sets out the reporting arrangements in place between the two organisations, the roles and responsibilities of both organisations, the agreed outputs to be delivered by Bus Éireann and the key performance indicators for the operation of the scheme. The agreement is under review and it is intended that an updated service level agreement will be put in place in 2019, with a view to further strengthening the governance framework around school transport.

Also in the context of reporting and performance monitoring, certain overhead costs and other indirect costs attributable by Bus Éireann to the school transport scheme are known collectively as the transport management charge. The Department commissioned an independent expert to carry out a review of the apportionment methodology for it. The report was completed in March 2018. The report provides a detailed analysis and classification of the costs incorporated into the charge. Based on the recommendations of the report, the Department has developed a reporting framework and we are working with Bus Éireann with a view to completing these reports initially on a biannual basis with a view to moving to quarterly reports. In addition, the Department has been taking steps to reduce the accumulated surplus arising from the charge. The surplus of €11.2 million recorded in the Comptroller and Auditor General' report will be eliminated by the end of the current year.

In regard to the final recommendation, all operational meetings between the Department and Bus Éireann are minuted and agreed by all attendees as a standing agenda item. While it did not generate recommendations, it is noted that a central part of the Comptroller and Auditor General's report was an examination of Bus Éireann’s procurement processes. The report records that Bus Éireann was compliant with public procurement guidelines.

I will mention two other areas of note in the school transport scheme. The first concerns concessionary transport. The purpose of the school transport scheme, having regard to resources, is to support the transport of children who live in remote areas. We have heard about the distance criteria. Families of eligible children living in areas where it is uneconomic to provide a transport service are eligible for the remote area grant towards the cost of making private transport arrangements if a service is not available. A number of non-eligible children are also transported in those circumstances, where bus places are available, after all eligible children are catered for. The transport is provided in the interest of maximising the utilisation of the existing fleet and in providing a service to families where the capacity exists to do so. Since the number of spare places is dependent on the number of eligible children requiring transport, there can be no guarantee from year to year of a place for those who do not meet the eligibility criteria.

On the special education needs scheme, the purpose of the scheme, having regard to available resources, is to support the transport to and from school of children with special educational needs arising from a diagnosed disability. In general, such children are eligible for school transport if they are attending the nearest recognised mainstream school or unit that is or can be resourced to meet their needs. Eligibility is determined following consultation with the National Council for Special Education through its network of special education needs organisers, SENOs. The Department and Bus Éireann are very conscious of the specialised nature of transport provision for these children. This is reflected in the standard of service provided by Bus Éireann, factoring the individual requirements of the children concerned into the planning of these services which generally operate on a door-to-door basis. Eligible children are exempt from school transport charges.

At a cost of almost €190 million in 2017, school transport constitutes a significant expenditure of taxpayer money. The scheme is under financial pressure from increasing demographics at primary and post-primary level but, more significantly, from the increase in the numbers of children with special educational needs being transported. While cognisant of the costs associated with the scheme, and having taken on board the recommendations of the Comptroller and Auditor General's report, the Department is continuing to strengthen the process to ensure value for money in the delivery of the school transport scheme, while also ensuring that all eligible children are accommodated with school transport services.

I am very happy to provide any further information sought and respond to questions from the committee. As the Chairman noted, we are joined by representatives of Bus Éireann.