Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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348. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason a person (details supplied) was refused a place on a school bus, in view of the fact they were forced to transfer to a school outside of the area due to bullying which the education and training board are aware of. [36256/17]

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 km annually.

Under the terms of my Department's Post Primary School Transport Scheme children are eligible for school transport if they reside not less than 4.8 km from and are attending their nearest school.

The child in question is not eligible for school transport under this Scheme and may avail of transport on a concessionary basis only which is subject to a number of conditions, including payment of the annual charge; this charge may be paid in two instalments in July and December.

The family should liaise with their local Bus Éireann office (Tel. No. 021 4557137) if they wish to obtain further information regarding the availability of concessionary transport.

The terms of the scheme are applied equitably on a national basis.