Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

School transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of my Department. In the 2019-20 school year, more than 120,000 children were transported in over 5,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country, covering more than 100 million km at a cost in excess of €219 million in 2019.

The Department is very conscious of the specialised nature of transport provision for children with special educational needs and this is reflected in the approach that is taken. In the current school year, there are more than 14,500 children availing of special needs school transport, which is an increase of 5,300 children since 2013. The Department funded the school transport scheme in 2019 in the amount of just over €219 million, with 53% of that allocated to the transport scheme for children with special needs.

The purpose of the special needs transport scheme is, having regard to available resources, to support the transport to and from school of children with special educational needs. Under the terms of the scheme, children are eligible for transport where they have special educational needs arising from a diagnosed disability and are attending the nearest recognised mainstream school, special class, special school or unit that is, or can be, resourced to meet their needs. Where practicable, my Department will consider the provision of specific or individual transport arrangements in circumstances where travel in the company of other children is not deemed feasible. In addition, there is a facility within the special needs transport scheme for the appointment of a school bus escort where a child's care and safety needs while on school transport are such as to require that support.

All eligible children are exempt from school transport charges. A special transport grant towards the cost of private transport arrangements may be provided at the discretion of the Department in certain situations where, for example, the child's care or medical needs are such as to make the provision of a transport service impracticable. While the closing date for receipt of applications for school transport in general is the last Friday in April of any given year for the following school year, my Department accepts applications all year round for the special needs transport scheme. As the Deputy may be aware, public health advice issued to my Department in late August recommended that all post-primary transport services operate at 50% capacity. That recommendation is being implemented across all special education services on which post-primary children travel. The special education transport scheme is providing for the transportation needs of pupils with disabilities.

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