Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 February 2026
656. Deputy Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin asked the Minister for Education and Youth in light of recent media commentary regarding the introduction of e-tickets, to address the fact that in last September's national coverage highlighted supply and demand pressures as the predominant issue rather than e ticketing; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12304/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraI wish to advise the Deputy that 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 181,000 pupils by the end of 2025, which equates to an increase of circa 50%.
Under the current terms of the mainstream scheme, 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.
A minimum number of 10 eligible children residing in a distinct locality, as determined by Bus Éireann, are required before consideration may be given to the establishment of school transport services, provided this can be done within reasonable cost limits.
The scheme is a demand led scheme based on the number of eligible children who apply. It is operated using a mix of Bus Éireann owned vehicles and directly recruited drivers, and private contractors who recruit their own drivers to operate on the scheme. Over 90% of school bus services are provided by private contractors, each contractor recruits school vehicle drivers directly.
As part of a national focus on driver requirements, the Department facilitated a working group between the Department of Education and Youth, Department of Transport, Bus Éireann, and Education and Training Boards Ireland (ETBI) to increase the availability of drivers within both the school transport scheme and other public transport areas nationally, through existing and potential training schemes.???
As a result of work undertaken by the working group, a taskforce was established which is chaired by the Department of Transport. The aim of the taskforce is to work collaboratively to identify contributing factors to the recruitment issues and put forward recommendations and measures to create a pipeline of workers to address these issues.
Bus Éireann has actively sought to recruit more contractors and drivers for the School Transport Scheme. A national and local media campaign was launched in 2025 to attract professional drivers. Further information can be found at: [www.buseireann.ie/contractors].
With regard to ticket usage, it is recognised that all pupils issued with tickets will not travel every morning and every evening. In addition, certain after school activities may also result in pupils not travelling on certain days. Bus Éireann organises for vehicles to be full to capacity with tickets based on applications received and based on the seating capacity of the vehicle. For safety reasons, it is not possible to issue additional tickets over and above the seating capacity of the vehicle which could result in a potential overload situation arising and all pupils not being carried on the service.
My department is currently progressing a number of technological improvements to the School Transport Scheme, including the planned introduction of eTicketing. Not only will eTickets replace the current printed paper tickets but eTicketing should provide accurate information on ticket utilisation, which is currently not readily available.
