Marc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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269. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will review the refusal of special school transport for a pupil (details supplied) to the ASD unit in a school; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [46428/22]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department. In the last school year over 121,400 children, including over 15,500 children with special educational needs, were transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country at a cost of over €289m in 2021.

Under the terms of my Department's School Transport Scheme for Children with Special Educational Needs, children are eligible for transport where they are attending the nearest recognised school that is or can be resourced to meet their special educational needs.

The National Council for Special Education through its network of Special Education Needs Organisers (SENOs) acts in an advisory role to my Department on the suitability of placements for children with special educational needs.

The School Transport Section of my Department has received an application for school transport for the child referred to by the Deputy and it has been reported by the SENO that this child is not attending their nearest school that is, or can be, resourced to meet the child's educational needs under Department of Education criteria. The child referred to in this case is therefore not eligible for school transport under the terms of the scheme.

An appeal was submitted to the School Transport Appeals board on 22/07/2022. The Board considered the case based on the information provided to them and determined that the terms of the scheme have been properly and appropriately applied and the appeal was not allowed. The Board notified the family of the decision.

If the family have any new information they would like to be considered, an appeal should be submitted to the School Transport Appeals Board for their attention.