Shane Moynihan (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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113. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the criteria for eligibility for the school transport scheme, for primary and post-primary schools. [17914/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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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 172,500 children, are transported daily in approximately 7,900 vehicles across 10,300 routes daily to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country. These daily trips cover over 100 million kilometres. This figure includes over 143,800 pupils travelling on primary and post primary services, 21,700 pupils with special educational needs, and 6,800 pupils who have arrived in Ireland from Ukraine.

The scheme is made up of three separate schemes, the school transport scheme for primary, post primary and for children with special educational needs. Transport is also provided for children who have arrived in Ireland from Ukraine and those residing in IPAS/EROC centres.

The total expenditure on the scheme in 2024 was €512m.

The purpose of my 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 kms from and are attending their nearest national school. At post primary level, they are eligible where they reside not less than 4.8 kms from and are attending their nearest post primary school/education centre. Distance is determined by the Department/Bus Éireann and rules have regard to ethos and language.

Eligible children who complete the application process and pay or enter their medical card details on time will get a seat on a school bus service, if a service is available.

Children who are not eligible for school transport but complete the application and pay or enter their medical card details on time will be considered for any spare seats available after eligible children have been accommodated. These spare seats are called concessionary seats.

There may be more demand than availability for concessionary seats. In such cases, Bus Éireann will use a selection process to allocate tickets for the spare seats.

Temporary alleviation measures will continue for the 2025/26 school year at post-primary level. This means that, if there are available services and enough capacity, transport will be provided for concessionary pupils who are eligible for transport to their nearest school but are attending their second nearest school or post-primary centre. This is only if they apply on time and pay or enter medical card details on time.

The Bus Éireann family portal is now open for new applications for school transport services for the 2025/26 school year. The closing date for new applications is Friday 25 April 2025.

The Bus Éireann family portal is now also accepting payments or medical card details until 6 June 2025. Payments or medical card details submitted after the deadline date will be deemed late. A late submission of payment or medical card details may mean that a seat is not available.

The School Transport 2030 report, which was published in early 2024 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 the schemes 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 the 2024/2025 school year.

As indicated at the time of the launch of the review, a number of pilots were being considered by my Department in conjunction with the Department of Transport and Bus Éireann. As also indicated at the time of the launch of the review, it was intended that following closure of the application process for the 2024/2025 school year consideration would be given to further potential pilots.

A total of 14 pilot projects are underway this school year. These pilots are currently being evaluated and they will provide valuable insights into the impact of increased demand on the scheme, the potential for integrating public transport with school transport services, and opportunities to promote more sustainable modes of transport. The findings from the evaluation will guide the planning and implementation needed for a national rollout of a revised School Transport Scheme.

Further information on plans for the 2025/2026 school year will be available shortly.

Peter Cleere (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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114. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to consider the provision of an additional school bus route to accommodate students from Lisdowney who currently face significant challenges in accessing school transport (details supplied). [17945/25]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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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 172,500 children, are transported daily in approximately 7,900 vehicles across 10,300 routes daily to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country. These daily trips cover over 100 million kilometres. This figure includes over 143,800 pupils travelling on primary and post primary services, 21,700 pupils with special educational needs, and 6,800 pupils who have arrived in Ireland from Ukraine.

The scheme is made up of three separate schemes, the school transport scheme for primary, post primary and for children with special educational needs. Transport is also provided for children who have arrived in Ireland from Ukraine and those residing in IPAS/EROC centres.

The total expenditure on the scheme in 2024 was €512m.

Under the current terms of the School Transport Schemes, children are eligible for transport at post primary level where they reside not less than 4.8 kms from and are attending their nearest post primary school/education centre as determined by the Department/Bus Éireann. The policy at Post-Primary level is that eligibility for school transport is to the nearest education centre/school subject to limited exceptions regarding language and ethos. An education centre is a number of schools within a town and acts a central point for students availing of school transport to attend any of the schools in the town.

The School Transport Scheme has regard to ethos and language in that exceptions to eligibility for the scheme are considered in the case of minority religions and the Irish language.

The scheme at Post Primary level provides transport for children of minority religion for whom there is less choice of school given the dispersed nature of these schools and also facilitates the viability of those minority religion schools.

Bus Eireann has advised that pupils residing in the Lisdowney area are not eligible for transport to Presentation Secondary School (61590S), Kilkenny. This school is part of Kilkenny City Post Primary Centre (PPC). Concessionary pupils from Lisdowney are either attending their fourth or fifth closest school/centre.

Depending on where the pupils live, their nearest PPC is either Castlecomer, Johnstown, Heywood or Rathdowney.

The School Transport 2030 report, which was published in early 2024 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 the schemes 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 the 2024/2025 school year.

As indicated at the time of the launch of the review, a number of pilots were being considered by my Department in conjunction with the Department of Transport and Bus Éireann. As also indicated at the time of the launch of the review, it was intended that following closure of the application process for the 2024/2025 school year consideration would be given to further potential pilots.

A total of 14 pilot projects are underway this school year. These pilots are currently being evaluated and they will provide valuable insights into the impact of increased demand on the scheme, the potential for integrating public transport with school transport services, and opportunities to promote more sustainable modes of transport. The findings from the evaluation will guide the planning and implementation needed for a national rollout of a revised School Transport Scheme.

Further information on plans for the 2025/2026 school year will be available shortly.