Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The school transport scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the last school year, more than 121,400 children, including over 15,500 children with special educational needs, were transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country. The cost of the scheme in 2021 was €289 million.

In July 2022 and as part of a wider package of cost-of-living measures, the Government announced funding for the waiving of school transport scheme fees for the coming school year for those who were eligible for the scheme. Ticket registration for the 2022-23 school year closed on 29 July, by which time almost 130,000 applications for mainstream school transport had been received. This figure included 44,299 new applications as well as roll-overs from previous years.

This time last year, there were approximately 103,600 children on school transport scheme services. Already, more than 127,800 tickets for the 2022-23 school year have been issued to applicants, meaning that in the region of 24,200 additional places have been created. This is an increase of 23%. Specifically, there has been an increase of 33% in concessionary tickets.

Children are eligible for transport at primary level where they reside not less than 3.2 km from and are attending their nearest national schools and at post-primary level where they reside not less than 4.8 km from and are attending their nearest post-primary schools or education centres, as determined by the Department. All children who are eligible for school transport and have completed the application process on time are accommodated on school transport services where such services are in operation.

Pending completion of the outcome of the full review of the school transport scheme, temporary alleviation measures at post-primary level have continued for the 2022-23 school year. Under these measures, pupils are eligible for transport to their next nearest schools.

As part of the budgetary process, some additional funding has been approved for the scheme, which has allowed officials in the Department, in consultation with Bus Éireann, to provide additional capacity where it is possible to do so. Bus Éireann has been prioritising areas where there are students who did not meet the eligibility criteria but were "on time concessionary pupils" and had tickets previously. It is important to stress that this is subject to capacity considerations. Constraints in sourcing vehicles and drivers in certain areas of the country may also mean that it may take a number of weeks to explore solutions for additional capacity.

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