Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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537. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of school transport for a person (details supplied). [13241/21]

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 which operates the School Transport Scheme on behalf of the Department has advised that the child to whom the Deputy refers is eligible for school transport. A service operates to the school of attendance with a pick up point of 6.3 km from where the child resides.

For a service to be established closer to where the child resides at least 10 eligible pupils from a distinct location would have to be availing of the service.

As this child resides more than 3.2 km from home to the pick-up point, and is eligible for school transport the child will be entitled to the Remote Area Grant from where the child resides to the pick-up point.

School Transport Section of the Department of Education will contact the family in due course to advise of eligibility for the remote area grant to the pick-up point and the process involved in claiming this grant. As it is based on school attendance the grant can only be paid at the end of the school year.