Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)

I thank Senator Conway for raising this matter today. As he is aware, school transport is a significant operation, managed by Bus Éireann on the Department's behalf and covering over 82 million km annually. In the region of 113,000 children, including more than 8,000 children with special needs, are transported in approximately 4,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country. The main objective of the school transport scheme is to support the safe transport to and from school of children who would have difficulty travelling for reasons of distance to their nearest school if transport is not supported.

Under the terms of my Department's post-primary school transport scheme, children are eligible for transport where they reside not less than 4.8 km from and are attending their nearest education centre as determined by my Department or Bus Éireann, having regard to ethos and language. Children who are not attending their nearest school may apply for school transport on a concessionary basis, subject to a number of terms and conditions which are detailed in the scheme.

The school transport charge for children who are eligible for school transport and for children who are availing of school transport on a concessionary basis remains at €350 per annum for the 2012-13 school year. This charge can be paid in two instalments in July and December. Eligible children for whom no school transport service is available may apply for the remote area grant towards the cost of making private transport arrangements. This grant is only available to children who are eligible in the first instance.

Considering what the Senator has said and the evidence he has submitted, I will ask Bus Éireann to submit a report to my school transport unit regarding the availability of services, if any, for the pupil referred to by the Senator. We will revert to the Senator as soon as that report is available.