Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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195. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will outline the additional funding that has been made available in Budget 2023 to provide free school transport from October 2022 to children who had concessionary tickets for bus transport in 2021 and who had applied in-time for inclusion in the 2022 scheme; when these children can expect to receive their tickets; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [48940/22]

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.

As you are aware, 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.

School Transport 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.

There has been an increase in tickets allocated across all counties, with an increase of 18% in the number of tickets issued to eligible pupils compared to start of the 2021/2022 school year and an increase of 27% in the number of tickets issued to concessionary pupils compared to the start of the 2021/2022 school year.

The normal eligibility criteria of the scheme still apply.

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.

All children who are eligible and who completed the application and registration process on time will be accommodated in the 2022 school year. In addition, pending completion of the outcome of the full review of the School Transport Scheme, Temporary Alleviation Measures at post-primary level be continued for the 2022/2023 school year. Under these measures, which were initially introduced in 2019, 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 29th April and registered for a ticket by the 29th July.

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 on when all eligible children have been catered for.

The School Transport Scheme is a demand led scheme and numbers are still being finalised for the 2022/23 school year as Bus Éireann continue to process the small number of remaining on time applications. Where additional services may need to be put in place for eligible children, any capacity on these services will be offered to concessionary applicants.

Following discussions with Minister McGrath and officials in DPER 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.