Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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146. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the procurement process for school bus contracts considers the distance a company has to travel to and from a school and how this fits in with reaching our Climate Action targets; if he will review the procurement process for school bus contracts with the view of ameliorating this issue; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10567/23]

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 of Education.  In the current school year over 147,900 children, including over 18,000 children with special educational needs, are transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country.

In addition, school transport scheme services are being provided in the current school year for over 4,500 children who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine.

The total cost of the scheme in 2022 was €338.9m. 

Bus Éireann manages the procurement tender process to include services provided by contractors under the School Transport Scheme.

This is a competitive procurement process conducted in accordance with the negotiated procedure under national and EU procurement legislation. 

The scheme is operated using a mix of Bus Éireann owned vehicles and privately owned contractor vehicles under contract to Bus Éireann to operate on the scheme.There are currently in the region of 6,750 vehicles operating on the scheme.

A review of the School Transport Scheme commenced 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. It will build upon the commitments within the Programme for Government as they relate to school transport, including examining options to reduce car journeys and assessing how the School Transport Scheme can work in liaison with the Safe Routes to Schools Programme. Decisions on the future operation of the Department School Transport Scheme, and associated Climate Action Plan actions, will be taken following the consideration of the Steering Groups recommendations.

Significant consultation has been undertaken as part of this review.  A public survey was administered for parents/guardians and students who use the service and those who do not use the service but who would like to.  A broad array of stakeholders including schools, special education interest groups, industry representatives and other Government Departments were all consulted as part of this review.

Phase two of the review has progressed significantly and is being completed in tandem with phase three which is well underway.

While work on the review was impacted somewhat by the current conflict in Ukraine, and by the increased demand for the scheme in summer 2022 due to fees being waived, my officials are working to complete phase 3 of the review within the coming weeks with recommendations on the future operation of the Department’s School Transport Scheme. Once approved by Government it is planned that the review will be published.