Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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461. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the position regarding a bus ticket for a person (details supplied) in County Kildare. [38972/17]

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 2016/17 school year almost 116,000 children, including some 12,000 children with special educational needs, were 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.

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

The child in question is not eligible for school transport as he resides less than 4.8 kilometres from his school of attendance.

Children who are not eligible for school transport may apply for transport on a concessionary basis only which is subject to a number of conditions including the availability of spare seats on an existing service and payment of the annual charge.

Bus Éireann has advised that there are seats available on an existing service and the family should liaise with their local Bus Éireann office if they wish to avail of transport on a concessionary basis.

Only children who are eligible for school transport and who hold valid medical cards (GMS Scheme) are exempt from paying the annual charge.

The terms of the Post Primary School Transport Scheme are applied equitably on a national basis.

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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462. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will address a matter regarding a school ticket for a person (details supplied) in County Kildare. [38973/17]

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 2016/17 school year almost 116,000 children, including some 12,000 children with special educational needs, were 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.

Under the terms of the School Transport Scheme children are generally eligible for transport where they reside not less than 3.2 kilometres from and are attending their nearest national school.

The child in question is not attending her nearest school and is therefore not eligible for school transport.

Children who are not eligible for school transport may avail of transport on a concessionary basis only subject to a number of terms and conditions including the availability of spare seats on existing service.

However, Bus Éireann has advised that there is no mainstream school transport service operating from the area that can accommodate this child.

The service referred to by the Deputy is a dedicated school transport service for children with special educational needs; these services are tailored to meet the specific care and welfare needs of these children only.

The terms of the School Transport Schemes are applied equitably on a national basis.