Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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57. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the financial assistance available to private school bus operators that have suffered huge losses of earnings due to Covid-19 and are unable to resume services; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19407/20]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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School Transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education.  In the 2019/20 school year over 120,000 children, including over 14,200 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 €219m in 2019. 

With regard to school transport contractors contracted by Bus Éireann on behalf of my Department to operate on the School Transport Scheme, following the initial announcement that schools would be closed from the 13th to the 29th of March and in light of the exceptional circumstances, it was agreed that those contractors would be paid at the full rate for the period up to 29th March 2020.

Following the decision that schools would not re-open in the 2019/2020 school year it was decided that those contractors would continue to be paid thereafter at 50% of their normal rate while schools remained closed in the 2019/2020 school year. This was with a view to assisting those contractors with general overhead non-pay costs to ease the financial burden encountered during these unprecedented times and to assist contractors to remain in business.

Earlier this week I announced a comprehensive plan detailing a package of measures and resources to be provided to facilitate schools in re-opening.  I also published a detailed roadmap for the full return to school. This roadmap set outs how schools will reopen for all students from the end of August.  It has been developed in line with public health advice issued by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC), the Roadmap for Society and Business, and follows comprehensive and intensive engagement with all relevant stakeholders including Bus Éireann, the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and the National Transport Authority on the logistical considerations that arise in planning for the operation of school transport services for the reopening of our schools.