John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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360. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills his Department's position on the refusal for a group (detail supplied) to be recognised as a distinct ethos by Bus Éireann for the purposes of school transport; his plans to rectify same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46289/17]

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.

The purpose of my Department's School Transport Scheme is, having regard to available resources, to support the transport to and from school of children who reside remote from their nearest school.

Children are generally eligible for school transport if they satisfy the distance criteria and are attending their nearest school.

In relation to school transport provision, ethos relates to religious ethos and is in the context of provision for minority religions.