Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin (Wicklow-Wexford, Sinn Fein)
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874. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to engage with Bus Éireann over the lack of school buses, on approved bus routes from Ferns to Bunclody County Wexford, which are leaving children with no way to get to school; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45952/25]

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. In the 2024/25 school year, over 173,000 children were transported daily in approximately 8,200 vehicles across 10,600 routes daily to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country. These daily trips cover over 100 million kilometres.

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 kilometres from and are attending their nearest national school, and at post primary level where they reside not less than 4.8 kilometres from and are attending their nearest post primary school/education centre 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 may apply for transport on a concessionary basis in accordance with the terms of the Post Primary School Transport Scheme and subject to a number of conditions:

• an application is made by the deadline date
• there is an existing service in place
• there is spare capacity on the service;
• routes will not be extended or altered, additional vehicles will not be introduced, nor will larger vehicles or extra trips using existing vehicles be provided to cater for children travelling on a concessionary basis;
• no additional State cost will be incurred;

Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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875. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of children who have been refused a school bus ticket for the 2025-2026 academic year due to a lack of available spaces, per county, in tabular form. [45959/25]

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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The information requested by the Deputy is not available in the manner requested, as numbers are still being finalised for the 2025/26 school year as Bus Éireann continue to process applications. To date over 146,869 mainstream pupil have received tickets for the 2025/26 school year. A total of 143,857 mainstream pupils received tickets for the 2024/25 school year.

Bus Éireann will continue to process applications and to issue tickets as soon as buses and drivers are sourced and become available to provide transport for the service.

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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876. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she is aware that school transport options are being refused to children attending schools that have relocated for the reason that there are other schools deemed closer; if she considers it fair policy to expect parents to transfer their children from one school to another because of decisions by her Department to relocate schools; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45960/25]

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.

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 kilometres from and are attending their nearest national school, and at post primary level where they reside not less than 4.8 kilometres from and are attending their nearest post primary school/education centre 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.

If a school moves location, any pupils who were eligible for school transport to the school before the relocation, and were travelling on school transport to the school, will retain their eligible status. However, all new applicants for school transport will be assessed on the distance from home to the new location of the school.

Should families have any specific queries, they can contact officials in School Transport Section of my Department who will be happy to assist. They can be contacted through the following link; .

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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877. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if a school bus service will be considered for an area following the relocation of a school (details supplied). [45961/25]

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.

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 kilometres from and are attending their nearest national school, and at post primary level where they reside not less than 4.8 kilometres from and are attending their nearest post primary school/education centre 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.

If a school moves location, any pupils who were eligible for school transport to the school before the relocation, and were travelling on school transport to the school, will retain their eligible status. However, all new applicants for school transport will be assessed on the distance from home to the new location of the school.

Should families have any specific queries, they can contact officials in School Transport Section of my Department who will be happy to assist. They can be contacted through the following link; .