Written answers

Thursday, 17 September 2020

Department of Education and Skills

School Transport

Photo of Darren O'RourkeDarren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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121. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if Bus Éireann has issued or allocated tickets to date for the 2020/2021 school year to over 97,000 children on the primary and post-primary school transport schemes, including tickets for over 26,200 concessionary applicants, as outlined during a Topical Issue debate on 8 September 2020 (details supplied); the way in which it compares to the same period in 2018 and 2019; if she expects in the order of 120,000 children to be accommodated on school bus transport in 2020; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24536/20]

Photo of Norma FoleyNorma 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. 

The purpose of my Department's School Transport Scheme is, having regard to available resources, to support the transport to and from school of children who reside remote from their nearest school. 

The closing date for payment for the 2020/2021 school year was Tuesday 4th August 2020.  All children who are eligible for school transport and who applied and paid by the deadline have been accommodated on school transport services where such services are in operation.

I can confirm that to date, 97,644 tickets have been issued to students on primary and post primary school transport services. Of this 97,644, 70,972 tickets have been allocated  to eligible pupils while 26,672 tickets have been allocated  to ineligible pupils.  In addition, School Transport services are being provided for over 14,500 children with special educational needs.

Details of tickets issued in September 2018 and September 2019 are below.

Year (September) Mainstream Eligible Mainstream Ineligible (Concessionary) Mainstream Total
2018 73,953 27,474 101,427
2019 74,514 29,520 103,764

As the above figures relate to  tickets allocated in September of each year they would not have been the total figures for the school year as these figures would have been subject to increase throughout the school year as Bus Éireann continued to allocate tickets where capacity existed on services.

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