Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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283. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if an application for school transport for a child (details supplied) in County Cork will be approved in view of the circumstances that apply; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28050/19]

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

There are currently over 117,500 children, including over 13,000 children with special educational needs, transported in over 5,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million kilometres annually.

Under the terms of my Department’s School Transport Scheme for Children with Special Educational Needs, children are generally eligible for school transport where they are attending the nearest school that is resourced to meet their special educational needs.

Eligibility for school transport is determined following consultation with the National Council for Special Education through its network of Special Education Needs Organisers; decisions regarding transport eligibility are based on the prevailing circumstances at the time of a child's enrolment.

The child in question is not eligible for school transport as he is not attending the nearest school that is resourced to meet his special educational needs.

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