John Halligan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising the matter. Before I address the issue of the review, I would like to give Members of the House an outline of the extent of the school transport service. It is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of my Department. It covers over 100 million km annually and in the region of 114,000 children, including some 10,000 children with special educational needs, are transported in approximately 4,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country.

In general, children are eligible under the school transport scheme if they are attending their nearest school and satisfy the requisite distance criteria - 3.2 km at primary level and 4.8 km at post-primary level.

Before I go any further, the Deputy may not be aware that a value for money review was initiated in 2011 by Fianna Fáil. I work on the criteria introduced following the review. That is not a criticism, but I am making the point that the criteria had been set when I entered the Department.

Transport on a concessionary basis is available to children who, because they are not attending their nearest school or reside less than the requisite distance from the school, are not eligible under the school transport scheme. Transport on a concessionary basis is subject to a number of conditions which are detailed in the school transport scheme such as the availability of spare seats on the bus after all eligible children have been catered for and payment of the school transport charge. The difficulty is that the number of children availing of school transport on a concessionary basis has increased significantly, from almost 4,000 children in 2010 to 25,000 children last year.

The programme for Government committed to reviewing the concessionary charges and rules element of the school transport scheme and the review has been completed. There were some difficulties because the review was complex and I had asked for all elements arising from the 2011 review to be dealt with. We were to release the report on the review last week, but as there was a bereavement in the family of one of the authors of the review, we had to put it off.

Furthermore, we have had some difficulties with Bus Éireann. I know that the Deputy is aware of these, as he has brought some of the difficulties in his constituency to my attention, for which I commend him. The chief executive officer will meet representatives of all parties tomorrow. Following the meeting, the review will be put up on the website next week and a copy of it will be sent to every party in the House. A follow-up meeting with all Members, including Deputy Bobby Aylward who made telling statements and recommendations, will also take place. We will examine the report to see how we can change the scheme.

The problem is that there are financial restrictions on us. I have made the point before and will make it again, but if I had my way, every child would be able to avail of the scheme. However, that is not within my remit. It will require further legislation to make more money available if all parties want every child to be bussed to school. I would be delighted to ensure every child would be able to avail of the scheme.

After the meeting with Bus Éireann tomorrow which should be fruitful, the report will be put on the website and a copy will be sent to everyone who wishes to have one. It will certainly be sent to a representative of each party represented in the Dáil.

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