Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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345. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason that an application for a school bus for a school in an area (details supplied) was refused; if the decision will be reconsidered given the number of children who wish to use the transport and the positive impacts of reducing the number of vehicles on the road. [47864/22]

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.  

In July 2022, Government announced funding for the waiving of school transport scheme fees for the coming school year as part of a wider package of cost of living measures.

Ticket registration for the 2022/23 school year closed on 29 July by which time almost 130,000 applications/registrations were received for mainstream school transport. This figure includes 44,299 new applications as well as roll-overs from the previous school year. 

Children are eligible for transport at primary level where they reside not less than 3.2 kilometres from and are attending their nearest national school, and at post primary level where they reside not less than 4.8 kilometres from and are attending their nearest post primary school/education centre as determined by the Department/Bus Éireann, having regard to ethos and language.

Children who are eligible for school transport and who have completed the application process on time will be accommodated on school transport services where such services are in operation.

Children who are not eligible for school transport, but who completed the application process on time, will be considered for spare seats that may exist after eligible children have been facilitated; such seats are referred to as concessionary seats.

Because of the nature of concessionary transport for non-eligible children and the priority of providing places for eligible children, there may be an excess of demand over supply for concessionary places, in these cases Bus Éireann will allocate tickets for spare seats using an agreed selection process.

Bus Éireann has advised that pupils residing in the area mentioned by the Deputy are not eligible for transport to the National School in question as there is another National School, in the area which is closer.  There is currently no mainstream school transport available from the area to the school mentioned by the Deputy.  

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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346. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of an appeal for school transport by as a result of an email technicality (details supplied). [47867/22]

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.  

In July 2022, Government announced funding for the waiving of school transport scheme fees for the coming school year as part of a wider package of cost of living measures. 

Ticket registration for the 2022/23 school year closed on 29 July by which time almost 130,000 applications/registrations were received for mainstream school transport. This figure includes 44,299 new applications as well as roll-overs from the previous school year. 

In addition to issuing emails, a strong emphasis is placed on advertising the closing date through both website and social media platforms.  Bus Éireann advertised the closing date through their website and social media platforms. The closing date was also advertised through the Department of Education, Public Representatives and other forms of media channels.

The email notifications that are issued are intended as a reminder but are not required for a ticket request to be made.

On 19^thAugust 2022, an appeal in respect of this application was lodged with the School Transport Appeals Board.  The Board will liaise directly with the appellant when the appeal is due for consideration.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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347. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the reason that four children (details supplied) who have received school transport annually previously are not receiving school transport in the current school year; and the other options, if any, that may be open to the family in order for the children to obtain transport to and from school. [47876/22]

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.  

In July 2022, Government announced funding for the waiving of school transport scheme fees for the coming school year as part of a wider package of cost of living measures. 

Ticket registration for the 2022/23 school year closed on 29 July by which time almost 130,000 applications/registrations were received for mainstream school transport. This figure includes 44,299 new applications as well as roll-overs from the previous school year. 

The normal eligibility criteria of the scheme still apply and tickets continue to be allocated in line with this criteria.  Pupils at primary level are eligible where they live no less than 3.2 kilometres from and are attending their nearest primary school. At post primary level, students who live no less than 4.8 kilometres from and are attending their nearest post primary school/education centre are deemed eligible.

 Any pupils/students who do not meet these criteria are deemed not eligible, or otherwise known as concessionary applicants, and are allocated a ticket based on the availability of a seat when all eligible children have been catered for.

In line with normal practice, all eligible children who completed the application and ticket registration process on time for the 2022/2023 school year will be accommodated on school transport services where such services are in operation.

Because of the nature of concessionary transport for non-eligible children and the priority of providing places for eligible children, there may be an excess of demand over supply for concessionary places, in these cases Bus Éireann will allocate tickets for spare seats using an agreed selection process.

Bus Éireann has advised that the pupils referred to by the Deputy are not eligible for school transport under the terms of the scheme.  These pupils referred were unsuccessful in obtaining concessionary seats for the 2022/23 school year as the existing school transport service is currently operating to capacity and there are no seats available.

Following discussions with Minister McGrath and officials in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform as part of the budgetary process some additional funding has been approved for the scheme which will allow officials in consultation with Bus Éireann to consider and evaluate where temporary additional capacity may be available. 

The initial focus will be where families applied on time and who previously held concessionary tickets, to alleviate the impact of the increased demands on the scheme for those families.  However, it is important to stress that this is subject to capacity considerations.  Constraints in sourcing vehicles and drivers in certain areas of the country may also mean that it may take a number of weeks to explore solutions for additional capacity.