Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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320. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if school transport tickets for the academic year 2023-24 will be facilitated in the case of the two sons of a person (details supplied); if their case will be considered as a matter of urgency; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22553/23]

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 5,200 children who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine.

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

The purpose of the 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.

Under the terms of my Department’s School Transport Scheme, children are eligible at post primary level where they reside not 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.

Children who are not eligible for school transport may apply for transport on a concessionary basis in accordance with the terms of the Post Primary School Transport Scheme and subject to the following conditions:

• an application is made by the deadline date
• there is an existing service in place
• there is spare capacity on the service;
• routes will not be extended or altered, additional vehicles will not be introduced, nor will larger vehicles or extra trips using existing vehicles be provided to cater for children travelling on a concessionary basis;
• no additional State cost will be incurred;

The availability of concessionary transport may vary from year to year and cannot be guaranteed for the duration of a child’s post primary school education cycle. Where the number of applications for transport on a concessionary basis exceeds the number of seats available, Bus Éireann will determine the allocation of the tickets using a random selection process.

Bus Éireann will review all school transport services over the summer months. Arising from this review, routes may be altered, extended or withdrawn depending on the number and location of eligible children who will be availing of school transport for the following school year.

In cases where the Department is satisfied that the nearest and next nearest schools are full, eligibility for school transport will be determined based on the distance a family resides from their next nearest school(s) having regard to ethos and language.

To establish that the nearest and next nearest schools are full parents must provide:

• The detailed steps taken to enrol their child in the nearest and next nearest schools.
• Evidence that an application for enrolment was made within the deadline dates specified by the school(s) and
• A letter from the School Authorities confirming that the school was full at time of enrolment.