Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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200. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of school children that avail of school buses at both primary and secondary level; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39411/19]

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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School transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of my Department. In the 2018/2019 school year over 117,500 children, including over 13,000 children with special educational needs, were transported in over 5,000 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country covering over 100 million kilometres at a cost of over €200m in 2018.

Bus Éireann is continuing to allocate seats for the current school year so the number of children availing of transport for the 2019/2020 school year is not yet finalised but the number is expected to be slightly higher than for the 2018/2019 school year.