Mark Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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463. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to clarify a matter regarding school transport for a person (details supplied) in Kildare south; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [55123/25]

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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The information requested by the Deputy is not available at present, further information on this matter has been requested from Bus Éireann by School Transport Section of my Department and they will revert directly to the Deputy on this matter.

Mark Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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464. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when she plans to implement changes to the ‘nearest school’ rule as contained in the School Transport 2030 Review of the School Transport Scheme report; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [55124/25]

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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The School Transport Scheme is significant in scale and changes as recommended in the review will take time and careful planning to implement. The recommended action as part of the review is to implement any changes on a phased basis. It was outlined at the time of the publication of the review that, given that the proposed changes to the eligibility criteria are likely to further increase demand for the scheme, it is considered prudent to implement the proposed scheme changes on a phased basis.

This is particularly relevant considering the challenges that have been encountered in recent school years and in the current school year where there are continued issues with resource availability (drivers/contractors) across the wider transport sector.

A phased implementation of the review’s recommendations began at the start of the 2024/2025 school year in conjunction with the Department of Transport and Bus Éireann. A total of 14 pilot projects took place in the 2024/2025 school year, these pilots are continuing for the 2025/2026 school year and further areas have been selected to pilot revised scheme criteria.

These pilots will be monitored during the year and a full evaluation will take place at the end of the 2025/2026 school year. This evaluation 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 these evaluations will guide the planning and implementation needed for a national roll-out of a revised School Transport Scheme.

Work is also underway to identify where further pilot programmes may be conducted. A number of approaches are being examined including the use of a Geographic Information System (GIS) to identify how many additional children would become eligible and where they are located. A digital mapping project of all existing school bus routes has been developed and there is ongoing collaboration with the Department of Transport, Bus Éireann and the National Transport Authority in regard to planned expansion of public transport routes to explore where integration may be possible.

Implementation of the recommendations of the review will continue to be planned subject to resources being available to meet the increased demand.

The current eligibility remains as follows for the 2025/26 school year;

Primary school: Children are eligible if they live 3.2 km or more from their nearest national school.

Post-primary school: Children are eligible if they live 4.8 km or more from their nearest post-primary school or education centre.

Distance is measured by Bus Éireann. The rules also take into account the language and ethos of the school.

If a child is eligible and the family applies and pays on time, they will be given a place on the school bus if:

• A service is running in their area
• There is space available