Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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Under the terms of the Primary School Transport scheme pupils are eligible for free transport if they reside 3.2 kilometres or more from, and are attending, their nearest national school or school of amalgamation.

Bus Éireann, which operates the school transport scheme on behalf of my Department, has advised that the pupils referred to by the Deputy are not attending their school of amalgamation and are therefore not eligible for school transport under the Closed School Rule (CSR).

The Deputy may be aware that the cessation of the Closed School Rule (CSR) as it relates to primary school transport eligibility was announced in the 2011 Budget by the previous Fianna Fáil – Green Party Government and derives from a recommendation in the published Value for Money Review of the scheme.

This change is scheduled to take effect in September 2012 and will apply only in the case of pupils commencing their primary education from that date.

Available statistics, based on sampling undertaken as part of the Value for Money Review, indicate that the impact of this change will be limited as the majority of pupils categorised under the closed school rule are in fact attending their nearest school. Before implementing this change which is proposed for 2012, my Department has requested Bus Éireann to conduct a detailed analysis of the "on the ground" impact for individual schools and the rural communities they serve. This analysis will be based on the most up to date information available on current school transport usage patterns and I expect to have this information available to me this summer.

I will then have an opportunity to carefully examine the likely affects of this change well in advance of the 2012 implementation date.