John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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513. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she was consulted by Bus Éireann relative to the changes being made by the company to certain bus routes affecting children with a disability; if she will ask the company to explain its actions and its long-term plans in this regard; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5329/16]

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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Bus Éireann is obliged to tender all works, goods and services in line with the European Directives on public procurement. This includes school transport services performed by contractors under the School Transport Scheme, which Bus Éireann operates on behalf of the Department of Education and Skills.

Bus Éireann is satisfied that the tendering process is a competitive process which allows the Company achieve value for money, enables eligible parties to participate, provides transparency on how contracts are awarded, and facilitates equality of treatment All of those elements reflect public procurement requirements at both a national and EU level. The rules of the process and conditions of tendering are clearly outlined in the tender documentation. My Department was advised of this procurement policy.

The experience of the driver assigned to perform the service is one of the award criteria, and while previous experience with the company is taken into account Bus Éireann is not permitted to conduct a process which provides an incumbent operator with an unfair advantage.

Both my Department and Bus Éireann are very conscious of the specialised nature of transport provision for children with special educational needs under the School Transport Scheme. This is reflected in the standard of service provided and by Bus Éireann factoring the individual requirements of the children concerned into the planning of these services which generally operate on a door-to-door basis.

Generally a five-year contract is awarded to the successful tenderer. This provides security for the duration of the contract to the contractor as well as stability, in terms of familiarity with transport arrangements, for the families, schools, and children concerned.