Written answers

Wednesday, 22 March 2017

Department of Education and Skills

School Transport

Photo of Martin KennyMartin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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138. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the detail of the school transport rate payable to a provider, per kilometre, per child; and the way this compares with the grant payable to parents to transport their children the same distance to school. [14330/17]

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

Currently over 115,000 children, including almost 12,000 children with special educational needs, are being transported in over 4,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million kilometres annually.

It is a matter for Bus Éireann to procure contractors to provide services for school transport purposes. Bus Éireann is obliged to tender all works, goods and services in line with the European Directives on public procurement, which includes school transport services performed by contractors under the School Transport Scheme.

It is a matter for each tenderer to decide what price they wish to quote for the work concerned taking into consideration their operating costs over the course of the contract period. There is no set hourly or mileage rate.

Research carried out in the context of the Value for Money Review of the School Transport Scheme showed that the annual unit cost per pupil for the provision of school transport was some €1,000 and €950 for primary and post-primary children respectively. 

The unit cost per pupil referred to represents the average unit costs and was calculated by reference to total expenditure on the relevant element of the Scheme and the number of children travelling.

An eligible child for whom no transport service is available may, following an application for transport within the prescribed time limits, receive a Remote Area Grant (RAG) towards the cost of private transport arrangements.

The rate of grant is calculated by reference to the distance from and attendance level at the school; the maximum grant payable amounts to €933.30 per school year.

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