Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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386. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if her attention has been drawn to the large number of pupils from Castleconnell, County Limerick who are attending a school (details supplied), but are unable to avail of the free school transport which they have applied for; if she will sanction extra resources to deal with their case; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48181/22]

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.

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.

Temporary Alleviation Measures was initially introduced at post-primary level in 2019 pending completion of the review of the School Transport Scheme, and will be continued for the 2022/2023 school year. Under these measures, transport will provided for post-primary pupils who are eligible for transport to their nearest school and are attending their second nearest school and who applied by the 29^thApril and registered for a ticket by the 29^thJuly.

Bus Éireann advised that a number of new applications have been received since 26th August 2022 for the 2022/23 school year.

It is very important for families to note that the application deadline for 2022/23 was 29 April 2022, and that the deadline to confirm registration for tickets was 29 July 2022. Any application completed after this date is a ‘late application’ and therefore, many school transport services are already operating at full capacity.Late applications will only be assessed after all “on time” applications have been processed and there can be no guarantee of places for late applicants.

Bus Éireann has advised existing services in the area referred to by the Deputy are operating to capacity for the 2022/23 school year.

Following discussions with Minister McGrath and officials in the Department of Public Expenditure & 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.