David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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194. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the status of Recommendation 4.3.b of her Department’s Review of the School Transport Scheme - Report 3, which was to be implemented in time for the school year 2024-2025, and which would allow for the provision of new routes in response to parental demand. [38725/24]

David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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195. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will urgently engage with parents of secondary school students from Ardmore, Clashmore, Kinsalebeg and Grange in County Waterford, regarding the demand for a public school bus to Dungarvan, taking into account that the vast majority of secondary students attend schools in this town, and in light of the contexts of Recommendation 4.3.b contained in her Department’s Review of the School Transport Scheme - Report 3. [38726/24]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 194 and 195 together.

The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the 2023/24 school year over 163,800 children, including over 136,000 pupils travelling on primary and post primary services, 20,200 pupils with special educational needs, and 7,400 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.

Over 140,000 mainstream tickets have issued for the 2024/2025 school year, which is already 3% more than the total tickets issued for the full 2023/2024 school year.

As the Deputy is aware, a review of the School Transport Scheme has been completed. 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.

The School Transport 2030 report, which was published earlier this year, marks the largest review of the School Transport Scheme since it was established in 1967. The 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. The recommended changes to the future operation of include expansion of the current eligibility criteria, addressing current operational challenges and moving towards better integration with public transport to ensure the best value for money to the Exchequer.

A phased implementation of the review’s recommendations began at the start of this school year. As indicated at the time of the launch of the review, the implementation includes a shared effort between the Department of Education 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. Two areas have been identified for these initial pilot projects:

• One in the Limerick/Shannon area
• One in the Roscommon/Athlone area.