Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 September 2025
341. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Education and Youth the number of school bus tickets issued to children nationwide for the 2025/2026 school year for which no corresponding bus service was available. [50428/25]
View answerThe School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education and Youth.
Over 148,000 mainstream tickets have issued to date for the 2025/26 school year, which is already almost 5% more than the total tickets issued for the full 2024/25 school year.
Unfortunately, difficulties have arisen in a number of locations, particularly in the east of the country, with a small number of contracted services, where it has not yet been possible to provide vehicles / drivers. Less than 0.5% of ticket holders on mainstream services nationwide have been affected. This number continues to decrease as services are put in place on a daily basis.
These difficulties have arisen in some cases due to lack of driver or contractor availability, or where either zero bids were received for a service, despite repeated efforts to procure one. The Bus Éireann School Transport team is working intensively to ensure that transport arrangements are put in place as soon as possible.
