Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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507. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills of the €69 million funding provided for the school transport scheme in 2025, the amount that is to maintain existing levels of service; and the amount that is for new measures. [55320/25]

Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein)
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508. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the number of additional children who will be able to avail of the school transport scheme following budget 2026. [55321/25]

Michael Moynihan (Cork North-West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 507 and 508 together.

The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education and Youth.

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.

In the current school year already almost 178,000 children and young people are being transported on a daily basis to schools throughout the country.

Over €69 million of additional funding is being allocated to school transport services. This is to provide for the additional demand for pupils with special educational needs on school transport services and increased bus contractor running costs.

It will also provide for additional funding on the School Transport Scheme fleet, and to implement improved technology such as e-ticketing on school transport services. E-ticketing will enhance students’ experiences on school transport and allow for greater visibility on seat usage. With better data, this will inform future route planning and maximise the efficiency and effectiveness of the system.

The Budget documentation published sets out funding for key measures and actions agreed for the coming year. As the Deputy may be aware, in line with standard practice, the final allocation of funding for my department for 2026 will be set out in the 2026 Revised Estimates Volume (REV) which is due to be published later this year. Further details on the 2026 allocations for my department will be available after the 2026 REV process is complete.