School Transport

Wednesday, 17 December 2025

Ceisteanna (223, 224, 225, 226)

Sorca Clarke

Ceist:

223. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education and Youth for an update on the implementation of the School Transport Review, including timelines for changes to eligibility criteria. [72637/25]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Sorca Clarke

Ceist:

224. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education and Youth whether capacity has been increased on school transport routes serving Longford and Westmeath for 2025/2026. [72638/25]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Sorca Clarke

Ceist:

225. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education and Youth if funding has been secured to expand the school transport fleet and enhance coverage under the revised transport system. [72639/25]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Sorca Clarke

Ceist:

226. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Education and Youth how the revised School Transport Review recommendations will address rural access issues in Longford and Westmeath. [72640/25]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Minister of State at the Department of Education and Youth

I propose to take Questions Nos. 223 to 226, inclusive, together.

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

The scheme has expanded significantly over the past six years. In that time, the numbers of children and young people using the service have grown from under 120,000 pupils in 2018 to over 180,000 pupils in 2025, which equates to an increase of close to 50%. To date in the 2025/2026 school year, 2,642 mainstream tickets have issued for county Longford and 3,797 have issued for Westmeath. This represents a 5% and 9% increase in tickets issued for the respective counties compared to the 2024/2025 school year.

Additional funding is being allocated to school transport services in 2026. 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.

Bus Éireann manages the procurement tender process and contract management arrangements to include services provided by contractors under the School Transport Scheme. The school transport fleet is made up of both contractors and Bus Éireann vehicles. Over 90% of services are provided by contractors operating on the School Transport Scheme. The school transport scheme is a demand led scheme based on the number of children who apply.

As part of the recommendations of the School Transport Review, fourteen School Transport pilots began in the 2024/2025 school year. I'm pleased to advise that these pilots are continuing in the current school year.

It was outlined at the time of the review’s publication that the proposed changes to the eligibility criteria will likely increase demand for the scheme. On this basis, it would be prudent to implement the proposed changes on a phased basis to ensure its rollout is as smooth as possible.

In line with the review’s recommendations, the School Transport Section of my Department engaged with Bus Éireann to identify where more pilots could be successfully delivered for the current school year.

Eleven further pilots have been selected for the current school year. The Department has given approval to Bus Éireann to review where additional capacity may be available for concessionary pupils who paid on time and would become eligible if the revised school transport scheme criteria was rolled out fully.

As part of these pilots, the distance criteria for pupils is reduced to 2km for primary and post primary and the need for a pupil to be attending their nearest school is removed. Some of these pilots are operational and the remainder are going through procurement.

In the coming months, e-Ticketing will be introduced on all dedicated school transport pilot routes, with families being advised on how pupils should use their the new school transport cards. E-ticketing should enhance students’ experiences on school transport and should allow for greater visibility on seat usage. With better data, this should inform future route planning and should maximise the efficiency and effectiveness of the system. These pilots will provide valuable insights on the impact increased demand will have on the scheme.

Provision of additional services as pilot projects will be subject to the availability of vehicles and drivers in each area. Implementation of the review recommendations will continue to be planned subject to resources being available to meet the increased demand.

Question No. 224 answered with Question No. 223.

Question No. 225 answered with Question No. 223.

Question No. 226 answered with Question No. 223.