Thomas Gould
Question:587. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Education and Youth the number of children in Cork who are entitled to special school transport who do not currently have access to this transport. [30535/26]
View answerTuesday, 28 April 2026
Questions (587)
Written answers
The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education and Youth.
As part of this operation, Bus Éireann manages the procurement tender process and contract management arrangements to include services provided by private contractors for both the mainstream and special educational needs (SEN) schemes.
In the current school year over 24,000 pupils are travelling on dedicated school transport services for children with special educational needs. This figure includes 2,728 pupils travelling on such services to schools in Cork.
Applications under the special educational needs scheme are currently received all year round. When the application has been processed by School Transport Section and it has been confirmed that the pupil is eligible for transport, it is sent to Bus Éireann. Bus Éireann assesses each application to identify the options available.
Where children can be facilitated on an existing service, applications are processed immediately, and arrangements put in place with families involved. Where a new service must be established there is a lead in period for this process that includes issues such as route design, procurement and vetting of contractors.
At the beginning of the 2025/26 school year, Bus Éireann reported that difficulties had arisen in sourcing contractors for services under the scheme. In some cases, these services were secured for the 2025/26 school year and due to reported driver/contractor unavailability at short notice, services could not commence as expected. In other cases, zero bids were received for a service, despite repeated efforts to procure one.
Transport challenges for SEN services have been concentrated in some parts of the country, particularly Dublin, Cork, Galway, Kildare and Meath.
As of 23 April 2026 there are circa 80 pupils who are sanctioned under the SEN scheme awaiting transport to Cork schools, which is around 3% of those approved for SEN transport in Cork.
I want to assure the Deputy and the families concerned that Bus Éireann is prioritising the arrangement of transport solutions for these pupils. It is worth noting that applications for SEN transport are accepted all year round, and are generally bespoke door to door transport arrangements, some are individual services depending on the exact pupil requirements. Over 7000 new applications for the SEN scheme have been received nationally for the current school year.
In such circumstances where there is no existing suitable service available to meet a child's needs, and while Bus Éireann are in the process of establishing the service for the child, the Department will offer an Interim Special Transport Grant (STG) to families of eligible children towards the cost of making private transport arrangements. This is based on the number of days attended from the date of application until a suitable service becomes available. Families can contact corkschooltransport@education.gov.ie if they require more information about the grant.