Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)

I am responding on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan, who has the privilege of taking over the issue of school transport, which he is absolutely delighted about. He is very reasonable and I know that he will give this consideration. On the Minister of State's behalf, I welcome the opportunity to respond on this matter.

The school transport scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education and Youth. Bus Éireann has advised that children residing in Kildare town are not eligible for the Curragh Community College as they are not attending their nearest post-primary school centre. They further advise that there is no existing service from Kildare town to this school. In cases where families have applied to attend their nearest schools with regard to ethos and language, and have been advised by the school authorities that these schools are full, the Department will consider if the pupil is eligible for the next nearest school. While the closest schools may be full to capacity at present, each family must supply evidence that an application for enrolment was made within the deadline specified by the schools and a letter from each of the school authorities confirming that the school was full. This information should be submitted to the school transport section of the Department of Education and Youth for consideration. Contact details for the section can be found on the Department’s website.

As the Deputy may be aware, a minimum of ten eligible children residing in a distinct locality, as determined by Bus Éireann, who have applied and paid or entered their medical card details, are required, before consideration may be given to the establishment or retention of school transport services, provided this can be done within reasonable cost limits.

The Bus Éireann family portal has now closed for applications and payments. Bus Éireann will now assess all applications and payments received and plan for routes and services for the 2025-2026 school year. Routes may be altered or extended depending on the number and location of eligible children who will be availing of school transport for the following school year.

Once routes have been finalised, Bus Éireann will assign tickets for each school transport service. Tickets will begin to issue in mid-July and will continue to issue during July and August. Families who are unsuccessful in obtaining a seat will be notified via email and a refund will issue. Payments or medical card details submitted after the deadline date will be deemed to be late. A late submission of payment or medical card details may mean that a seat is not available.

There is a job of work in terms of the Department assessing the levels of interest and applications that have come in. There is the specification requirement of ten eligible students to establish a route. I take the Deputy's point regarding this specific case in the Kildare town and the Curragh. It is great for Kildare town that the new Curragh school will be built there. Perhaps a solution should be considered in the interim. The Minister of State's door is open. If there needs to be a workaround or some type of interim solution, he will at least discuss this with the Deputy and work with the Department on it. I have set out the requirements for establishing new school bus routes.

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