Peter Roche (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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16. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the measures being taken to ensure school bus tickets are issued in advance of the commencement of the 2026-27 school year; the steps being taken to avoid a recurrence of the delays and capacity issues experienced last year, which resulted in eligible children being left without transport or unable to access existing routes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53982/26]

Peter Roche (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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Like the Minister, I want to wish our gallant Galway hurlers everything that is good on Sunday, but that is not why I stood up to speak.

I am anxious, given the spate of correspondence coming into my office, about the school transport scheme and how some families find themselves ineligible or refused transport for the next year.

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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The school transport system is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education and Youth. The scheme is a demand-led scheme based on the number of eligible children who apply and pay on time. Families who require school transport for 2026-27 were asked to apply and pay for their school bus tickets by the closing date of 8 May. The earlier closing date was put in place so that we could give Bus Éireann additional time to put in place transport arrangements for the upcoming school year. Since this date, Bus Éireann has been assessing all applications and planning routes and services for the 2026-27 school year.

The school transport scheme remains heavily subsidised by the State. The approximate cost to the State per mainstream pupil is currently €1,400 annually, while the cost to the family is €100 per pupil. The total cost of the school transport system in 2025 was €537 million, equating to almost €3 million being spent on the provision of school transport per day. It is important to note that the primary school ticket will cost the equivalent of 55 cent per school day and the cost of a post-primary ticket is approximately 60 cent per day, with no family paying more than €1.32 per day regardless of how many children use the services. Tickets are now being issued to families and will continue to be issued throughout the summer. Where pupils are unsuccessful in receiving tickets, they will be notified as early as possible, and refunds will be issued from Bus Éireann.

As part of the operation of the scheme, Bus Éireann manages the procurement, tender process and contract management arrangements to include services provided by contractors under the school transport scheme. There are currently over 8,000 vehicles operating on the scheme and the competitive procurement process is conducted in accordance with the negotiated procedure under the national and EU procurement legislation. In previous school years, Bus Éireann has reported particular issues with the availability of drivers. This included a number of contractors handing back contracts unexpectedly. I will refer to some of the other details later.

Peter Roche (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for his response. I get the whole cost of providing transport, but access to education begins with access to transport. For any parent who finds themselves in receipt of a refusal for a bus ticket for next year, it is the most compelling and difficult thing they have to deal with. It is stressful enough without them being told that do not qualify. In most cases, the people that I am talking about had transport last year. It is almost inconceivable that they had it last year and they are not getting it this year. God knows, there are plenty of examples. There is one example in Galway where St. Brigid's College and St. Raphael's College in Loughrea are maxed out in terms of numbers and the nearest school is St. Killian's College in New Inn. The school could desperately do with transport to ensure that it is sustainable. In this instance, there are six children who require transport to said school. However, I get and appreciate the whole issue of the costs of providing the service.

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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I know the value of the school bus ticket. I always say that from the middle of August through to 1 October is peak time in terms of this issue. Irrespective of the overall figures that I can give the Deputy here today in relation to the cost to the State and the amount of money that the State has invested, it pales into irrelevance when we are talking about one or two tickets for a family. The Deputy mentioned six tickets on a particular route. We have a lot of concerns in relation to whether every bus ticket on the system is being utilised to the full as well. We are looking at various ways to try to ensure that we get everybody on the school bus. Enabling the children of a family to get on the school bus at primary and post-primary levels is a huge game changer. When free education came out in the 1960s, the school transport scheme was introduced because people did not have transport. Right now it is because there are two parents working or the challenges they have with other children as well. I understand the challenges, and we are working very hard. The team in Bus Éireann and the Department of education have huge engagement to try to resolve issues. Do we have a magic wand for every issue? We probably do not, but we are working to try to resolve issues.

Peter Roche (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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As the Minister of State mentioned, there are instances where students and families have benefited from school transport tickets. There are also many instances where they are not utilised. If there was a formula or mechanism to make sure that only those who need them apply, it would help the situation. I do not know if anyone would be in position to say that they do not want it and will give it back, but if we had some kind of mechanism to make sure that only those children who want to avail of public transport would apply for it and it could be left to those who urgently require it. I thank the Minister of State. I want to ensure that no parent has the stress for the summer months of waiting and hoping to see if someone can provide transport for their student for the next school term.

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy. We are looking at ways to ensure that if there is a ticket issued, it will be used. Anecdotally, the Deputy and other colleagues tell us about school routes the length and breadth of the country that have spare capacity but, when we look at the system, all of the tickets on that particular school route are occupied and accounted for, and it is therefore very difficult to reallocate them. As it is such a huge scheme, and given the amount of money the State has invested in it, we need to try to get the best value for money that we can. We also need to make sure that those who need the tickets most are being allocated the tickets. We are working across Bus Éireann and the Department to ensure that the services are reaching the families that really need the tickets. There is a good bit of work to do on that, but there is a huge commitment across government to make sure that we do that to ensure we can get the tickets out there. The most valued piece is the school bus ticket. I know from past experience and the role that I now have that when the ticket is not available, it can cause huge stress and anxiety for families and children.