Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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56. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his plans for a contingency plan for the school bus service as a result of the Bus Éireann dispute. [16491/17]

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

Currently almost 116,000 children, including some 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.

School transport services generally are not affected by the Bus Éireann dispute. However, in the region of 1,000 children who normally avail of school transport services on Bus Éireann public scheduled services are affected by the industrial action.

Where a dedicated Bus Éireann service could not operate, a replacement vehicle has been contracted to provide the service.