Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I will start on a positive note. The dramatic expansion of the school transport scheme in recent years has brought more students into the fold in terms of being able to get a bus to school. That is welcome. Last year, while there were teething problems with the expanded scheme, it ensured more kids than ever before got to school. Despite the problems with drivers, routes and the usual palaver that happens every year, more children got to school. That is most welcome.

I welcome the fact we are persisting with keeping fees down for tickets. It will be, I think, €50 per student and €125 maximum per family. However, there are still difficulties. We are still waiting for the school transport review to be finalised. In light of that, I understand the Minister will take interim measures again.

No scheme will ever be perfect. There will always be anomalies and specific circumstances. One size will not fit all. Traditionally, pupils from the village of Watergrasshill in County Cork have always gone to school in Fermoy. Historically, the connections are there. There is an all-boys school and an all-girls school there, and now there is a new comprehensive school as well. In the interim a school was built in Glanmire, which is closer but which has no connection to the village historically and would not be considered its hinterland. Glanmire is in the city. The second nearest school is Carrignavar. The numbers that go from Watergrasshill to Carrignavar can be counted on one hand. About a dozen children qualify for a ticket to Glanmire from Watergrasshill, four or five students qualify for a ticket to Carrignavar and 50 students wait on the side of the road every morning to get a public bus to Fermoy and pay full rate. It is the third nearest school, technically, as the criteria are interpreted, but the difference is metres rather than kilometres.

I know the full school review has not been completed and will not be completed in time for this year’s intake but I ask that Bus Éireann be given flexibility when it comes to determining routes. The Minister of State will read a response from the Department giving the criteria concerning the nearest and second-nearest school. I know all that and do not need to hear it again. I ask that Bus Éireann, which manages the routes day to day and does all the juggling of children over the summer, be given some flexibility. We all know here that those few months are madness. A business case could be made for routes like those I am talking about where it is common sense that 50 children should be accommodated, as opposed to four and 12 to nearer schools. I ask for that flexibility to be extended. I know the Minister of State cannot grant me that today but I ask him to take the message back to the Minister for Education when she implements this and issues the tickets through Bus Éireann.

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. Before I address the issues raised, I will provide an outline of the extent of the school transport scheme. The scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the current school year, over 149,000 children, including over 18,000 children with special educational needs, are transported daily to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country. There has been an increase of 21% in tickets issued to eligible students and 38% in concessionary tickets issued in the current 2022-23 school year compared to the 2021-22 school year. In addition, school transport scheme services are being provided in the current school year for over 4,500 children who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine. The total cost of the scheme in 2022 was €338 million.

The school transport scheme is an important service for families and children. The purpose of the scheme is, having regard to available resources, to support the transport to and from school of children who reside remotely from their nearest school. A review of the scheme is ongoing and is being conducted with a view to examining the current scheme, its broader effectiveness and sustainability, and to ensuring it serves students and their families adequately. Phase 1 of the review examined the impact of eligibility criteria on mainstream pupils who were eligible for transport to their nearest school but attending their next nearest school. The report was completed in June 2021.

Following consideration of this report, for the 2021-22 school year, the provision of temporary alleviation measures was approved for transport for post-primary students who are otherwise eligible for school transport but were attending their second-nearest school and had applied and paid on time. These measures have been continued for the current 2022-23 school year, and will again continue in the 2023-24 school year pending completion of the review.

These measures mean that transport will be provided for post-primary pupils who are eligible for transport to their nearest school and are attending their second nearest school, and who apply for school transport by 28 April 2023, which is tomorrow, and pay for a ticket or enter their medical card details by 9 June 2023. It is planned the review will be completed shortly, at which point decisions on the future operation of the Department’s school transport scheme will be taken.

For the 2023-24 school year it remains that children are eligible for transport at primary level where they reside not less than 3.2 kilometres from and are attending their nearest national school, and at post-primary level where they reside not less than 4.8 kilometres from and are attending their nearest post-primary school as determined by the Department and Bus Éireann, having regard to ethos and language. Children who are eligible for school transport and who complete the application process on time will be accommodated on school transport services where such services are in operation. In addition, as already mentioned, temporary alleviation measures will be continued for the 2023-24 school year, pending completion of the review.

Children who are not eligible for school transport but who complete 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. On the specific issues raised by the Deputy it is understood that the pupils in the area referred to are attending their third or fourth closest school and, therefore, are not eligible for transport under the terms of the school transport scheme. However, if families have applied to attend their nearest school in regard to ethos and language and have been advised by the school authorities that it is full, the Department of Education will consider whether students can be deemed eligible for transport to the next nearest school. These families can submit details to the school transport section in the Department of Education where their requests can be assessed. I accept that the Deputy probably knows all of this but it is important to say it. It is particularly important considering that the deadline for applications is tomorrow and to remind people of this. I note the Deputy's message with regard to the flexibility that is required.

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State. I am raising the issue today because the deadline is tomorrow. The case I am highlighting is just one of the dozens throughout the country with various anomalies. The reality is that the people in the area I am speaking about have given up applying because they know they fall outside the criteria and they are unlikely to get a concessionary ticket. It is very hard for me to demonstrate the demand when people have given up hope of getting a seat.

This issue did not appear overnight. It has been there for years. It is the epitome of "Computer says 'No'". I could have predicted the response that I got. It does not make sense that 50 children cannot get a bus while 14 children can go to two other schools just because they are 1 km closer. I understand there have to be criteria but surely in this case, and in any other case throughout the country with similar numbers, when it so obvious that a demand-led service is needed it should be taken into consideration.

It is not Bus Éireann's fault. It does a great job every year. It is that Bus Éireann has to stick rigidly to the policy that it is asked to implement. My plea is for flexibility, not only in the situation I have discussed but throughout the country. In several months' time we will be in our constituency clinics receiving emails and getting phone calls from parents who are at the end of their tether having to try to car pool, borrow and steal spins for their children every morning or get grandparents to do the job for them. The case I am discussing involves a straight run down the main road from Cork to Tipperary of no more than 12 minutes to accommodate 50 children. Situations such as this should be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. I know it is not the Department of the Minister of State but I ask that he brings back this message to the Department of Education.

Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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I thank Deputy O'Sullivan. I still encourage people to apply. We all make the assumption that the numbers this year will be the same as last year. This could well be the case but people will not be in the mix if they do not make an application. I suggest that they make an application anyway. Other Deputies will identify with the situation that Deputy O'Sullivan has described. It is the reason the review was conducted in the first place. It has been coming a long time but it is imminent. My view, and that of many of my colleagues, is that the school transport system should be integrated with the public transport system. It would make much more sense for efficiency and effectiveness in a variety of ways. I hope this is considered in the process of the review. I take the points made by Deputy O'Sullivan.