John Clendennen (Offaly, Fine Gael)
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1281. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if school transport will be provided to pupils (details supplied); whether capacity will be increased to accommodate them; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44074/25]

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, 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 and Youth.

Bus Éireann has advised that one of the pupils referred to is eligible for transport however a late payment was received, by which time the service was operating to capacity.

Bus Éireann has advised that the other pupils referred to are not eligible for school transport to the school of attendance as they are not attending their nearest school. These pupils were unsuccessful in obtaining a concessionary seat and the service is currently operating to capacity.

Bus Éireann has further advised that, in lines with the terms of the scheme, there are no plans to increase the capacity of the current service.

Under the terms of the Primary School Transport 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 as determined by the department/Bus Éireann, having 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.

Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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1282. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if exceptions can be made for the school transport scheme in a case (details supplied) for parents who applied with a medical card given that their new temporary location was only updated on the Bus Éireann system following the closing date for applications; if it can be acknowledged that all applications as a result would be late applications through no fault of their own and allowances made for parents as a result; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44102/25]

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, 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 and Youth.

The school referred to by the Deputy is currently located in interim accommodation on a school campus site in Citywest, Dublin. Bus transport has been provided for the school to this location by the Planning and Building Unit. This is a private arrangement and is not within the remit of my Department's School Transport Scheme. The site in Citywest is outside the School Planning Area (SPA) and this is the reason transport was provided.

It is intended that the school will move to modular accommodation on an interim site in Newcastle for September 2025. My Department has advised the school and patron body that the private bus transport arrangement will not be provided to the Newcastle site. The reason for this is that the Newcastle site is within the SPA.

Bus Éireann has advised that the new location of Rathcoole ETNS has been updated on their system and they have completed the re-assessment of all new applications to this school for the 2025/26 school year.

Bus Éireann is responsible for the planning and timetabling of school transport routes. 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. 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.

The closing date for new applications for school transport services for the 2025/26 school year was Friday 25 April 2025. Any new applications made after the closing date are considered late applications and this may mean that a seat is not available.

The closing date for payment or entering medical card details was 06 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.

Bus Éireann will review applications/services over the coming summer months. Routes may be altered or extended depending on the number and location of eligible children who will be availing of school transport for the following school year. Once routes have been finalised, Bus Éireann will assign tickets for each school transport service. 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.