Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)
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279. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason school transport buses in County Kerry are not due back until 31 August 2015, given that the schools in the area will return on 27 August 2015. [29352/15]

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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The scale of the School Transport Scheme, transporting some 114,000 children every school day on some 6,000 school transport routes utilising some 4,000 vehicles every school day makes it the largest public transport operation in the State. Transport services for both primary and post-primary children are co-ordinated and transport routes are planned and shared in such a way as to ensure that school transport vehicles are fully utilised in an efficient and cost effective manner.

The starting date for school transport services is an integral part of this objective and is arrived at by reference to the standard school year, the requirement that post primary schools be open for a minimum of 167 days and the commencement date of the State examinations in June 2016.

The additional cost of providing school transport services outside of the above considerations would be prohibitive on a national basis.