Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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346. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of a bus ticket for a person (details supplied) in County Kildare. [46165/17]

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 attending her nearest school and is therefore not eligible for school transport under the terms of the scheme. 

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.

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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347. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will address a matter in relation to a school ticket for a person (details supplied) in County Kildare. [46166/17]

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 Primary School Transport Scheme, children are eligible for transport where they reside not less than 3.2 kilometres from and are attending their nearest national school as determined by the Department of Education & Skills/Bus Éireann, having regard to ethos and language.

Bus Éireann has advised that the child in question is not eligible for school transport as she is not attending her nearest school.

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

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

The service referred to in the details supplied 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 Primary School Transport Scheme are applied equitably on a national basis.