Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will be repeating myself now. The school transport scheme is operated by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education, as we said. We have more than 161,600 young people availing of it. That figure is divided into children travelling on mainstream services and children with special educational needs who are travelling. The total cost of the scheme was in excess of €382 million in the 2023 school year. We know it is very good value for money. Families are being asked to pay €50 at primary school, €75 at post-primary level and €125 for a family ticket. In fact, the cost to the State per student for the school transport scheme is more than €1,100. That is incredibly good value. It is an excellent system but our objective is to ensure that more people will have an opportunity to avail of it going forward. Therefore, we have an ambitious projection forward of 100,000 additional students availing of the scheme by 2030.

The temporary alleviation measures to which the Deputy refers are currently in place at post-primary level and will be in place for the 2024-25 school year. Under these measures, transport is provided where there is a route in operation and where capacity exists for concessionary post-primary pupils who are eligible for transport to their nearest school, are attending their second nearest school and applied and paid on time. Children who are not eligible for school transport may apply for transport on a concessionary basis only and will be facilitated where spare seats are available after eligible children have been accommodated. Where the number of ineligible children exceeds the number of spare seats available, Bus Éireann will allocate tickets for the spare seats using an agreed selection process. It should be noted that planning for school transport services in any given year will commence in the preceding December to January. In this regard, planning for the 2024-25 school year has already commenced, with officials of the Department in regular contact and engagement with Bus Éireann.

A review of the school transport scheme has been completed, as I stated earlier. The review was conducted with a view to examining the current scheme, its broader effectiveness and, specifically, with reference to the nearest and the next-nearest school, as the Deputy raised. All of that is part of the review going forward. The school transport scheme 2030, which has now been published, will be an opportunity for us to look at the scope and potential to do things differently, add greater capacity and allow a maximum number of students avail of the transport scheme.

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