Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil leis an Teachta ós rud é go bhfuil an t-ábhar tábhachtach seo curtha faoi bhráid na Dála inniu. Before I address the specific issue raised, I will provide an outline of the extent of the school transport scheme. The scheme is a significant operation that is managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the current school year over 161,600 children, including over 135,000 pupils travelling on primary and post-primary services, 19,800 pupils with special educational needs and 6,800 pupils who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine, are transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country. The total cost of the scheme in 2023 was €382.02 million. There has been an overall increase in both applications and tickets issued for the 2023-24 school year in comparison to the 2022-23 school year.

The school transport scheme is an important service for families and children. The purpose of the scheme is to support the transport to and from school of children who reside remotely from their nearest school. Under the current scheme, children are eligible for transport at primary level where they reside not less than 3.2 km from the school and are attending their nearest national school, and at post-primary level where they reside not less than 4.8 km from that school and are attending their nearest post-primary school as determined by the Department/Bus Éireann, having regard to ethos and language.

Children who are eligible for school transport and who have completed the application process on time are accommodated on school transport services where such services are in operation. In addition, temporary alleviation measures have been continued for this school year, which means that transport is provided where there is capacity to do so for post-primary concessionary pupils who are eligible for transport to their nearest school, are attending their second nearest school, applied for school transport by 28 April of last year and paid for a ticket by 9 June 2023. Children who are not eligible for school transport, but who completed the application process on time, are considered for spare seats that may exist after eligible children have been facilitated. Such seats are referred to as concessionary seats.

A review of the scheme has been conducted with a view to examining the current scheme, its effectiveness and its sustainability and to ensuring it serves students and their families adequately. The school transport scheme has been in operation for over 55 years since its establishment in 1967 by the late, great, Donogh O'Malley as part of the expansion of second level education. This review is one of the most extensive investigations that has been carried out into the scheme since then. Considering how best to maximise the benefits of the scheme now and into the future has been a significant factor in the review of the scheme.

Following phase 1 of the review, temporary alleviation measures were introduced at post-primary level and are being continued this year. Under these measures, which were initially introduced in 2019, transport is provided where there is a route in operation, where capacity exists for concessionary post-primary pupils who are eligible for transport to their nearest school and are attending their second nearest school, and where they have paid and applied on time. There has been an extensive stakeholder engagement process on all of this. An important finding of the stakeholder engagement process was that the special educational needs transport scheme supports many children in attending specialist school placements which they otherwise may not be able to attend.

An analysis of school transport schemes in other jurisdictions was also conducted. This research and analysis outlined the evidence of the need for a school transport service in an Irish context. The steering group has recently completed its work on the final report of the review. This final report includes recommendations on the future operation of the scheme. l am aware that this review is much awaited and may answer many of Deputy Whitmore's questions and suggestions. It is recognised that improvements need to be made to the scheme. I appreciate the importance of doing this. The Minister expects to be in a position shortly to bring the review to the Government, and it will be published subject to Government approval.

Bus Éireann has confirmed that there are 4,450 children on school transport services in Wicklow, comprising 3,907 on mainstream services, 404 children going to special education needs schools and 141 children on services for children who have arrived in Ireland from Ukraine. Bus Éireann has also confirmed that there are particular issues with drivers, etc., and we all know about this. The significant shortage of drivers has affected students in Wicklow and other parts of the country. Bus Éireann is continuing to prioritise sourcing vehicles and drivers but a small number of routes remain without a service, affecting less than 1% of pupils nationally. Services are being provided for over 99.5% of pupils on a daily basis.

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