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.

The National Council for Special Education acts in an advisory role to the Department of Education and Skills on the suitability of placements for children with special educational needs. Under the terms of the School Transport Scheme for Children with Special Educational Needs, the Department will consider the report of the Special Education Needs Organiser (SENO). School transport is provided to children with special educational needs who are attending the nearest school to their place of residence that is or can be resourced to meet their educational needs, as identified by the SENO.

Bus Éireann is very conscious of the specialised nature of transport provision for pupils with special educational needs under the School Transport Scheme and all services are planned to meet the individual requirements of children travelling.

The School Transport Review does not recommend any changes to the current eligibility criteria for the SEN scheme, in that the scheme will continue to provide transport for eligible children to the nearest school that is or can be resourced to meet their special educational needs and that this will continue to be determined in consultation with the NCSE. However, a Working Group will be established to enable ongoing improvements to the SEN Scheme. In the interests of promoting inclusivity, steps will be taken to support children with special educational needs whose parents wish for them to travel on available mainstream services, where they wish to and where it is possible to do so. It is recognised that not all children will be able to travel on mainstream services.

The analysis conducted as part of this comprehensive review has illustrated the importance of school transport to families and has shown there are benefits from school transport in terms of independence and life skills for children.

While the closing date for new applications for school transport is the last Friday in April, School Transport Section continue to accept applications for SEN transport all year round. As services are requested on a demand led basis, it is not possible to pre-determine the specific requirements for each child's individual often complex needs.