Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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396. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills further to Parliamentary Question No. 137 of 16 June 2021, the efforts that will be made to ensure that no child will be left without school transport for the new school term in September 2021 considering the review into the school transport system is not due to completed until later in 2021; the efforts that can be made to speed up the review considering it is almost two years since the review was first announced; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33506/21]

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 114,100 children, including over 14,700 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. 

In October 2019, my predecessor announced a review of the school transport scheme with a view to taking a fresh look at the service and its broader effectiveness and sustainability.  The review is being conducted to ensure that the school transport is fit for purpose and that it serves students and their families adequately.

It is planned that the Steering Group will report to me on an interim basis as the review progresses, with a view to presenting a final report later this year with recommendations on the future operation of the Department’s School Transport Scheme.

The Steering Group will report to me initially on preliminary findings regarding eligibility, before moving to consider and report on broader issues such as the objectives of the scheme and the alignment of the scheme with other initiatives and wider Government policy.  The Steering Group has recently reported to me with this preliminary interim report which is under consideration.