Eamon Scanlon (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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754. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if her Department will review a concessionary ticket application for school transport in the case of a family (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [58701/25]

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.

Children who are not eligible for school transport, but who completed the application process on time, are considered for spare seats that may exist after eligible children have been facilitated; such seats are referred to as concessionary seats.

Under the terms of the scheme, the availability of concessionary transport varies from year to year based on the capacity on the buses running on all the various routes and the number of eligible children accommodated on each route.

Bus Éireann has confirmed that the pupil, to whom the Deputy refers, is eligible for school transport. A ticket has not issued for the 2025/26 school year as payment/medical card details were received late at which time the service was operating to capacity with no seats available.

Eamon Scanlon (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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755. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if her Department will review a concessionary ticket application for school transport in the case of a family (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [58702/25]

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.

Children who are not eligible for school transport, but who completed the application process on time, are considered for spare seats that may exist after eligible children have been facilitated; such seats are referred to as concessionary seats.

Under the terms of the scheme, the availability of concessionary transport varies from year to year based on the capacity on the buses running on all the various routes and the number of eligible children accommodated on each route.

Bus Éireann has confirmed that the pupil, to whom the Deputy refers, is not eligible for school transport as the family do not meet the distance criteria. The pupil was not successful in receiving a concessionary ticket for the 2025/26 school year following a late application at which time the service was operating to capacity with no seats available.

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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756. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when a bus will be provided for school transport for a school (details supplied) in County Cork; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [58704/25]

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 Department has sanctioned a service for the route referred to by the Deputy. Bus Éireann is working intensively to secure a service for this route as soon as possible and will contact the families directly when the service is ready to commence.

The Department understands the inconvenience and disruption this has caused families. An “Exceptional No Service Interim Grant” will be available from the Department for families who were issued with tickets, and will be based on the number of days children attend school. Families do not need to make an application for this payment. The School Transport Section of the Department will be in contact with further details.

As part of the operation of the scheme, Bus Éireann manages the procurement tender process and contract management arrangements to include services provided by contractors under the School Transport Scheme.

The competitive process is conducted in accordance with the negotiated procedure under national and EU procurement legislation.