Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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427. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the consideration being given to the residents of counties Longford and Westmeath who await places on school transport, given the additional funding available to the school transport scheme to provide temporary additional capacity. [51346/22]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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School Transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of my 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. Already over 125,000 tickets for the 2022/2023 school year have been issued to applicants for the new 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.

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 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.

As you are aware additional funding has been approved following the budget for the scheme which will allow my 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.

Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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428. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will review the current system for designating catchment areas for the school transport services to factor in an element of feeder schools being taken into consideration. [51349/22]

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. The cost of the scheme in 2021 was €289m.

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.

A number of changes to the School Transport Scheme were introduced in Budget 2011, which derived from recommendations in the Value for Money Review of the Scheme. These changes encompassed a number of elements including the cessation of catchment boundary area to determine eligibility at post primary level.

Under the current eligibility criteria, pupils at primary level are eligible where they live no less than 3.2 kilometres from and are attending their nearest primary school having regard to ethos and language. Students at post-primary level are eligible where they live no 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.

As the Deputy may be aware my Department commenced a review of the School Transport Scheme in February 2021. The review is being conducted with a view to examining the current scheme, its broader effectiveness and sustainability, and to ensure that it serves students and their families adequately.

The scope of the review encompasses the School Transport Scheme for Children with Special Educational Needs and the Primary and Post-Primary School Transport Schemes in terms of how each element of the schemes currently operate, to include eligibility criteria, trends, costs and cost drivers, and overall effectiveness in meeting the objectives of the schemes.

Wider considerations relating to operation of the scheme are now taking place in the second phase of the review. It is anticipated that the completion of the final phases of the review will be in the shortest timeframe possible.

Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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429. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will ensure all pupils who had a concessionary ticket in previous years for school transport are facilitated in the current school year. [51350/22]

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. The cost of the scheme in 2021 was €289m.

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.

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.

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.

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 very important 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, 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 the 29th April and registered for a ticket by the 29th July.

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, who previously held concessionary tickets, and where capacity allows, to seek to alleviate the impact of the increased demands on the scheme for those families. 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.