Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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191. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if an application by a student (details supplied) who is availing of special education transport will be processed without further delay. [48844/22]

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 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.

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.

The National Council for Special Education acts in an advisory role to the Department of Education on the suitability of placements for children with special educational needs. Under the terms of the School Transport Scheme for Children with Special Educational Needs, my Department will consider the report of the Special Education Needs Organiser (SENO). School transport is provided to children with special educational needs who are attending the nearest school to their place of residence that is or can be resourced to meet their educational needs, as identified by the SENO.

I am pleased to advise that this pupil has been deemed eligible to the school they are attending. Bus Éireann have advised that they are in the process of arranging a transport service for the pupil in question and they will be in contact with the family directly to confirm when a service has been established.

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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192. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of additional seats on school buses that have been allocated in County Limerick from the last academic school year, 2021/2022 and this school year, 2022/2023 since the announcement that students availing of the school bus transport scheme would not be charged fees; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48875/22]

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.

Nationwide, in the region of 20,400 additional places have been created, which is a a 20% overall increase. There has been an increase of 18% to date in the number of tickets issued to eligible pupils and an increase of 27% to date on the number of tickets issued to concessionary pupils, compared to the start of the 2021/2022 school year.

Bus Éireann are continuing to process applications and to issue tickets as soon as extra buses and drivers are sourced and become available to provide transport for the higher numbers qualifying for the service. Therefore, final figures for the 2022/2023 school year are not available at present.

However, Bus Éireann have advised that so far, in the current school year an additional 852 tickets have been issued to families for transport on school buses in County Limerick compared to the last academic school year (2021/2022). A tabular statement is provided below:

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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193. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when a pupil (details supplied) will receive their school bus ticket. [48929/22]

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.

I am pleased to advise that the pupil referred to by the Deputy is eligible under the terms of the scheme as they are attending their nearest school.

An application for transport was first received for this pupil on 30/08/2022 for the 2022/23 school year. A ticket was issued to this pupil on 03/10/2022.