Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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427. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the decision to refuse school transport in the case of a person (details supplied) will be reviewed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25465/18]

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 116,000 children, including over 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 at a total cost of almost €190 million in 2017.

Under the terms of my Department’s School Transport Scheme for Children with Special Educational Needs, children are eligible for transport where they:

- have special educational needs arising from a diagnosed disability in accordance with the designation of high and low incidence disability set out in Department of Education and Skill’s (DES) Circular 02/05

and

- are attending the nearest recognised: mainstream school, special class/special school or a unit, that is or can be resourced, to meet their special educational needs

Eligibility is determined following consultation with the National Council for Special Education through its network of Special Education Needs Organisers.

The child in question does not satisfy the above criteria and is therefore not eligible for school transport under the terms of the above scheme.

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