Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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626. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the details of efforts that have been put in place by her Department to increase the number of bus drivers available in order that the issues experienced with the school transport scheme will not be repeated for the 2024-2025 school year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1380/24]

Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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629. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills what measures have been put in place to deal with the expected increase in applications and demand for the school transport scheme, in view of the announcement that the scheme will be free for those eligible for the 2024-2025 school year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1385/24]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 626 and 629 together.

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 161,600 children, including over 135,000 pupils travelling on primary and post primary services, 19,800 pupils with special educational needs, and 6,800 pupils who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine are transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country.

The total cost of the scheme in 2023 was €382.02m.

There has been an overall increase in both applications and tickets issued for the 2023/2024 school year in comparison to the 2022/2023 school year.

Children are eligible for transport at primary level where they reside not less than 3.2 kilometres from and are attending their nearest national school, and 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.

The school transport scheme is a demand led scheme based on the number of children who apply. My Department engages with Bus éireann on an annual basis to plan for the provision of the resources required to operate the scheme.

As part of budget measures for 2024, Government announced an additional €50m for school transport which will allow continued investment for children to access to the School Transport scheme.

The increased investment on the scheme is due in the main to the cost of contractors to cater for the increase in pupil numbers projected in 2024. In addition the expected increase of children requiring transport on the scheme for children with special educational needs will result in a subsequent increase in the number of School Bus Escorts required and this is factored into the additional costs for 2024.

In addition to the funding for investment in the overall scheme, as part of the cost of living measures announced in budget 2024 to assist families with the costs of education, reduced fees will continue to apply on school transport.

Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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627. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the details of training programmes, including the cost of such programmes, being made available for those wishing to become qualified school bus drivers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1382/24]

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 161,600 children, including over 135,000 pupils travelling on primary and post primary services, 19,800 pupils with special educational needs, and 6,800 pupils who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine are transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country.

The total cost of the scheme in 2023 was €382.02m.

There has been an overall increase in both applications and tickets issued for the 2023/2024 school year in comparison to the 2022/2023 school year.

Children are eligible for transport at primary level where they reside not less than 3.2 kilometres from and are attending their nearest national school, and 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.

The school transport scheme is a demand led scheme based on the number of children who apply. My Department engages with Bus éireann on an annual basis to plan for the provision of the resources required to operate the scheme.

As over 90% of school bus services are contracted locally, the recruitment of school bus drivers would be a matter for each bus contractor, and each contractor is responsible for ensuring that all the required training has been provided to their drivers and that all the necessary licences and professional standards are in place. With regard to school bus drivers employed by Bus éireann, all drivers must undergo at least one day of training each year to maintain their Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC). Bus éireann delivers this training to their staff through their team of Training Supervisors, who are trained as Advanced Driving Instructors.

Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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628. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the oversubscription of schools, in particular second-level schools, resulting in children attending a school which is not geographically the closest to their home will be taken into consideration by her Department when deciding a student's eligibility for the school transport scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1384/24]

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 161,600 children, including over 135,000 pupils travelling on primary and post primary services, 19,800 pupils with special educational needs, and 6,800 pupils who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine are transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country.

The total cost of the scheme in 2023 was €382.02m.

There has been an overall increase in both applications and tickets issued for the 2023/2024 school year in comparison to the 2022/2023 school year.

Under the current terms of the scheme, children are eligible for transport at primary level where they reside not less than 3.2 kilometres from and are attending their nearest national school, and 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. Any children 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.

Temporary Alleviation Measures (TAMS) at post-primary level are continued for the current school year. Under these measures, transport will be provided where there is a route in operation and where capacity exists for concessionary post-primary pupils who are eligible for transport to their nearest school and are attending their second nearest school and who applied and paid on time.

Children who are not eligible for school transport may apply for transport on a concessionary basis only and will be facilitated where spare seats are available after eligible children have been accommodated. Where the number of ineligible children exceeds the number of spare seats available Bus éireann will allocate tickets for the spare seats using an agreed selection process.

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

To establish that the nearest schools are full parents must provide evidence that an application for enrolment was made within the deadline dates specified by the schools and a letter from the relevant School Authorities confirming that the schools were full. This documentation can be sent to the School Transport Section of the Department for consideration.

Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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630. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the details of the required number of eligible students needed on a school bus route for a larger bus to be placed on the route under the school transport scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1386/24]

Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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631. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if there is a requirement for eligible students to live within a certain distance of an already established school bus route for them to receive a place on the bus; her Department's policy for altering established bus routes to accommodate eligible students under the school transport scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1387/24]

Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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632. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if school bus usage is recorded; if a minimum attendance is required for a student to continue to be eligible for their school bus place under the school transport scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1388/24]

Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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633. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the details of the required number of eligible students needed for a new school bus route to be considered under the school transport scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1389/24]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 630, 631, 632 and 633 together.

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 161,600 children, including over 135,000 pupils travelling on primary and post primary services, 19,800 pupils with special educational needs, and 6,800 pupils who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine are transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country.

The total cost of the scheme in 2023 was €382.02 million.

Children are eligible for transport at primary level where they reside not less than 3.2 kilometres from and are attending their nearest national school, and 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.

There has been an overall increase in both applications and tickets issued for the 2023/2024 school year in comparison to the 2022/2023 school year.

Bus éireann is responsible for the planning and timetabling of school transport routes on behalf of the Department. Safety of children travelling on the school transport services is of paramount importance to the Department and to Bus éireann. Bus éireann endeavours, within available resources, to ensure that each eligible child has a reasonable level of school transport service in the context of the Scheme nationally.

Routes are planned so that, as far as possible, no eligible child will have more than 3.2 kilometres to travel to a pick-up point. Children are generally expected to make their own way, or to be brought to convenient pick-up points along the main route.

There is an onus of responsibility on parents/guardians to arrange to bring their children to and from the pickup point of a school bus service, taking whatever safety precautions they consider sufficient to ensure their safety.

A minimum number of 10 eligible children residing in a distinct locality, as determined by Bus éireann, are required before consideration may be given to the establishment or retention of school transport services, provided this can be done within reasonable cost limits.

At present, it is not possible for Bus éireann to examine data on ticket usage as tickets are paper based. However, Bus éireann undertook a pilot E-Ticketing project. Based on the information derived from this pilot project, it is intended to review the data and prioritise working towards E-Ticketing on all school transport scheme services . This will provide the Department and Bus éireann with greater data on real time travel patterns.

Bus éireann organises for vehicles to be full to capacity with tickets based on applications received and based on the seating capacity of the vehicle. For safety reasons, it is not possible to issue additional tickets over and above the seating capacity of the vehicle which could result in a potential overload situation arising and all pupils not being carried on the service.

It is recognised that all pupils issued with tickets will not travel every morning and every evening. In addition, certain after school activities may also result in pupils not travelling on certain days.

If a family decide that they no longer require their bus tickets for the current school year, they should return these tickets to their local Bus éireann school transport office and their seats will be reallocated to other pupils wishing to avail of school transport.

Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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634. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if her Department will consider some flexibility and work with families living in rural areas who are eligible for the school transport scheme to be able to avail of school bus services (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1390/24]

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 161,600 children, including over 135,000 pupils travelling on primary and post primary services, 19,800 pupils with special educational needs, and 6,800 pupils who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine are transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country.

The total cost of the scheme in 2023 was €382.02 million.

Children are eligible for transport at primary level where they reside not less than 3.2 kilometres from and are attending their nearest national school, and 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.

There has been an overall increase in both applications and tickets issued for the 2023/2024 school year in comparison to the 2022/2023 school year.

Bus éireann is responsible for the planning and timetabling of school transport routes on behalf of the Department. Safety of children travelling on the school transport services is of paramount importance to the Department and to Bus éireann. Bus éireann endeavours, within available resources, to ensure that each eligible child has a reasonable level of school transport service in the context of the Scheme nationally.

Routes are planned so that, as far as possible, no eligible child will have more than 3.2 kilometres to travel to a pick-up point. Children are generally expected to make their own way, or to be brought to convenient pick-up points along the main route.

Bus éireann has advised that the pupil referred to resides 12.0 km from home to their closest school and school of attendance and is eligible for school transport. However, she resides 10.0 km from home to the nearest pick-up point. There is no suitable service available in the area to accommodate this pupil and, therefore, she will be included on Bus éireann’s list for the Remote Area Grant from the 2023/24 School year. The route that is highlighted by the Deputy is currently running at full capacity. Further information in relation to the Remote Area Grant is available at: gov.ie/schooltransport.

Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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635. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to provide a list of the different school ethos's recognised by her Department in relation to the school transport scheme for secondary schools and second-level schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1391/24]

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 161,600 children, including over 135,000 pupils traveling on primary and post primary services, 19,800 pupils with special educational needs, and 6,800 pupils who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine are transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country.

The total cost of the scheme in 2023 was €382.02m.

There has been an overall increase in both applications and tickets issued for the 2023/2024 school year in comparison to the 2022/2023 school year.

Children are eligible for transport at primary level where they reside not less than 3.2 kilometres from and are attending their nearest national school, and 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.

With regard to ethos, the Department of Education classifies schools as being one of the following - of religious denomination, interdenominational or multi-denominational.

The post-primary school transport scheme supports the transport to and from school of children who live more than 4.8 kilometres from and are attending their nearest post-primary education centre/school. It is subject to the following exceptions:

- children who choose to attend their nearest minority religious denominational school due to religious ethos may be eligible for school transport to that school, even if it is not their nearest school

- children who choose to attend their nearest all-Irish school/unit may be eligible for school transport to that school/unit, even if it is not their nearest school

- children who choose to attend their nearest all-English school/unit may be eligible for school transport to that school/unit, even if it is not their nearest school