Charlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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161. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will ensure that students in County Donegal do not have to travel over a mountain road to get to their nearest school, that common sense will prevail and that they may continue to attend the traditional secondary school for their area (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13533/15]

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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The purpose of my Department's Post Primary School Transport Scheme is, having regard to available resources, to support the transport to and from school of children who reside remote from their nearest education centre.

Children are eligible for transport where they reside not less than 4.8 kilometres from and are attending their nearest education centre as determined by the Department/Bus Éireann, having regard to ethos and language.

Bus Éireann, which operates the school transport scheme on behalf of my Department, is responsible for the planning and timetabling of school transport routes.

Distance eligibility is determined by measuring the shortest traversable route from a child's home to the relevant education centre and a variety of methods may be used to calculate this measurement including a specially designed GIS mapping system.

The shortest traversable route between a child's home and the relevant education centre may be either a pedestrian or vehicular route, and it is not necessarily the route that the school bus takes.

Children who are not eligible for school transport, under the terms of the scheme, may apply to Bus Éireann for transport on a concessionary basis subject to a number of conditions including the availability of spare seats on an existing service and the payment of the annual charge.

The terms of the scheme are applied equitably on a national basis.