John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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222. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will set up a working group to examine the school bus transport system and the way it operates in rural Ireland in view of the fact that the current system is chaotic and the criteria to qualify for the service poses a threat to small rural schools; if he will request the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General to carry out a value for money audit on the service; if he will intervene immediately to ensure that all those attending schools who rely on the school bus service and have not been allocated a place or have lost their place on the bus are accommodated; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26575/16]

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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School transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department.

During the 2015/16 school year in the region of 114,000 children, including some 10,000 children with special educational needs, were transported in approximately 4,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million kilometres annually.

The Programme for Government commits to review the concessionary charges and rules element of the School Transport Scheme prior to Budget 2017.

This Review which has commenced will encompass an overview of the School Transport Scheme including the current position regarding school transport on a concessionary basis, identify issues regarding the concessionary charges and rules element and make recommendations on concessionary school transport.

Pending this review, there was no planned programme of downsizing school buses in the current school year. There were route changes and variations in line with normal operational decisions that occur from year to year, and any impacts in terms of increases or decreases of available places nationally was marginal, in line with what occurs every year.

It is important to point out that there has been no impact on children who are eligible for school transport.

Furthermore, as announced in July, a cross party group was established to feed into this review.

A Value for Money Review of the School Transport Scheme was published in March 2011. Changes to the school transport scheme, which were implemented from the commencement of the 2011/12 school year, derived from recommendations contained in this Value for Money review of the scheme.