Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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442. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of children who have applied for a school bus ticket in each primary and post-primary school in County Limerick in the current academic year; the number of pupils who have been awarded a ticket and the number of pupils who have been awarded a ticket but have not gotten a seat in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50200/22]

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 2022/2023 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.

Already over 125,000 tickets have issued for the 2022/2023 school year. At the start of the last school year, there were circa 103,600 children carried on mainstream school transport services so already in the region of 21,400 additional places have been created, which is over 20% of an increase. There has been an increase of over 18% to date in the number of tickets issued to eligible pupils and an increase of over 27% to date on 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 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.

In addition, pending completion of the outcome of the full review of the School Transport Scheme, Temporary Alleviation Measures at post-primary level will be continued for the 2022/2023 school year. Under these measures, which were initially introduced in 2019, transport will be 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 29 April and registered for a ticket by 29 July.

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.

The School Transport Scheme is a demand led scheme, as numbers are still being finalised for the 2022/23 school year, while it is not possible to provide specific information until all applications have been processed, so far, 5,529 tickets have issued to students in Limerick for the 2022/2023 school year, this is an increase of over 25% on the number of tickets issued in the 2021/2022 school year. This number may change as Bus Éireann continue to process a 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.