Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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185. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of school transport scheme routes, including the names of the schools involved, for which the authorities have been forced to revise a previous decision (details supplied); the dates in each case on which such a revision came into effect by county for each of the years 2012 to 2016 and to date in 2017 in tabular form; the reason in each case for a reconsideration having been made; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23003/17]

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.

In general, children are eligible for school transport if they meet the distance criteria and are attending their nearest school.

Bus Éireann determines distance eligibility by measuring the shortest traversable route, which may be either pedestrian or vehicular from a family's home to their nearest school. The main purpose of this measurement is to identify the distance that families reside from their nearest school and to assess if they meet the distance eligibility criterion for school transport. In the interests of equity, this is applied on a consistent standard basis across the country irrespective of any local circumstances that may impact on travel conditions on particular routes.

Routes are planned and reviewed, over the summer months, based on the locations of children who are eligible for school transport.

Bus Éireann has confirmed that the criteria used for establishing the shortest traversable route have not changed.