Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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81. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason a transport grant was discontinued for a person (details supplied). [3539/18]

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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School transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department.

Currently over 115,000 children, including almost 12,000 children with special educational needs, are being transported in over 4,500 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million kilometres annually.

The child in question is eligible for school transport under the terms of my Department's School Transport Scheme for Children with Special Educational Needs and the family availed of a Special Transport Grant while he attended his previous school as there was no transport service available.

However, in 2015 the child in question changed school and Bus Éireann advised that he could be accommodated on an existing school transport service.

A Special Transport Grant is not generally considered where a reasonable level of transport service is available and the family were informed of this position in May 2016.

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