Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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437. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of those eligible for school transport applicants that had or have not yet secured a place on a bus due to late payment of fees by county and month from September 2020 to date in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8536/21]

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 current school year over 113,100 children, including over 14,500 children with special educational needs, are transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country at a cost of over €224.7m in 2020.

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.

Bus Éireann has confirmed the number of eligible pupils by county who applied late for school transport and up to 21st January 2021, had not yet secured a place on a service and these figures are provided in the attached document. Please note that the figures are at a given point in time and are subject to change as Bus Éireann continue to offer tickets where capacity may exist.