Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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204. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the spend for taxis in lieu of school transport, and their category of spend, by county, for 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 year to date, in tabular form. [30604/24]

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 and the School Transport Scheme for Children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) accounts for over 50% of this total cost on an annual basis.

Bus Éireann operate the scheme on behalf of the Department, of which circa 94% of the total school transport fleet is operated by private contractors under contract to Bus Éireann. Costs attributed to the SEN transport scheme include payments for transport, grants to families to support them with transport arrangements where required, and grants to schools to provide for the cost of the employment of School Bus Escorts.

The total number of vehicles transporting pupils to school on a daily basis is approx. 7,300 and circa 2,300 of these vehicles are taxis. It is important to note that the total figure includes pupils on mainstream services, pupils on SEN services and pupils from Ukraine.

Taxi services are generally provided to children availing of SEN transport. The Department and Bus Éireann are very conscious of the specialised nature of transport provision for children with special educational needs. This is reflected in the standard of dedicated service provided and the fact that these services are generally planned and timetabled to operate on a door-to-door basis.

It is not possible to provide the information in the manner requested by the Deputy.

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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205. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of seats available in the school transport scheme for September 2024; and the number of seats applied for, by county, in tabular form. [30605/24]

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.

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 current terms of the School Transport Schemes children are eligible for transport at primary level where they reside not less than 3.2 km from and are attending their nearest national school as determined by the Department/Bus Éireann having regard to ethos and language. At post primary level, they are eligible where they reside not less than 4.8 km 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 eligible for school transport and who have completed the application process on time will be accommodated on school transport services where such services are in operation and where there is capacity to do so.

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.

The closing date for new applications for the school year 2023/24 was 26 April 2024 and the closing date for payment was 07 June 2024. Families may still apply for school transport following this date, but if the application or payment is late they may not secure a seat on a service and will not be considered for a remote area grant.

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.

As the scheme is demand led, it is not possible to predict the numbers of students that will require transport for the 2024/2025 school year. Bus Éireann are currently assessing all applications and planning for routes and services for the upcoming school year following the closing date for payments. Once routes have been finalised, Bus Éireann will assign tickets for each vehicle. Tickets will begin to issue in mid-July and will continue to issue throughout July and August. Families who are unsuccessful in obtaining a seat will be notified via email and a refund will issue.

The information required by the Deputy is not available in the manner requested.

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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206. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the amount a pilot project in an urban setting would cost to run a school transport programme for one school year. [30606/24]

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 2023/2024 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 were 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.

At present, pupils at primary level are eligible where they live no less than 3.2 kilometres from and are attending their nearest primary school. As determined by the Department/Bus Éireann, having regard to ethos and language

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. As determined by the Department/Bus Éireann, having regard to ethos and language.

As you are aware, my Department recently completed a review of the School Transport Scheme which marks the largest review of the scheme since it was established in 1967. This review was conducted with a view to examining the current scheme, its broader effectiveness, and sustainability and to ensure it services students and their families adequately.

Following approval by Government at the end of February, School Transport 2030 was published. Government is committed to working to achieve the report’s recommendation of expanding access to the scheme so that an additional 100,000 pupils can be carried by 2030.

A phased implementation of the review’s recommendations will begin in September 2024. This will include a shared effort between my Department and the Department of Transport, supported by the National Transport Authority (NTA) and Bus Éireann, to pilot and introduce greater integration of existing public transport networks with post-primary school transport routes.

Following closure of the application process for the upcoming school year, consideration will be given to further pilots in other areas of the country. These will be considered in areas where potential demand exists and where capacity/resources are not a particular issue.

It is not possible to provide the information requested by the Deputy as each pilot will have different requirements in terms of the scale of the project. All funding for the school transport scheme for 2024 will be derived from core/current funding. Any requirement for supplementary funding for 2024, will be sought using the agreed supplementary estimates process which has not yet been finalised.

My Department is keen to learn from these innovative developments how best to implement the recommendations for the wider school transport system. I am fully committed to growing the pilots based on the evidence and feedback from the communities involved in this first phase. The planned pilot projects in the 2024/2025 school year will provide valuable insights on

• the impact increased demand will have on the scheme.
• the potential to integrate public transport services with school transport services.
• the facilitation of more sustainable modes of transport.