School is back — but how do we get there? Parents 'frustrated' by lack of bus places 

Waiving school transport fees was a welcome decision but it has “added fuel to the fire” when it comes to the fight for spaces

Changes to the School Transport Scheme have “added fuel to the fire” and “absolutely crippled an already broken system”.

The return to school is always a stressful time for parents across the country, but the added difficulty to secure a space on a bus this September has left many parents feeling frustrated.

Mother of four Cliona O’Connor has been vocal about issues with the School Transport Scheme over the past number of years. But after the fees were waived for this coming academic year, the Cork woman says those existing problems have been exacerbated.

“It didn’t solve any problems because it’s like having a broken pot and pouring more water into the broken pot instead of taking the pot away and fixing it and making it bigger,” she says, describing the situation this year as "very frustrating".

While the waiving of fees is welcome, Cliona says this has not solved the problem and instead “added fuel to the fire” and “absolutely crippled an already broken system”.

Cliona O'Connor

As a result of the changes, more people have been registering for a space on her local school bus in Cork city but despite this influx, the capacity to cater for them is not there.

With three of her four children due to return to primary school next week, Cliona was notified in the past four days that they will not have a place this year — some, she says, are still waiting to hear.

“They need to look at the economics of it. They need to look at getting more buses on the routes,” she says.

The bus stop is at the gate of Cliona’s home which is located 100 meters from the cutoff point which would make her children eligible for a space on the bus. 

However, they have been provided with a place in the past on a concessionary basis.

“It’s kind of like, well if you’re going that direction anyway, can you not just put on a bigger bus and facilitate them?” she asks.

Luckily, Cliona can figure out a way to schedule drop-offs and pickups but there are many families who are really impacted by not having a space on the bus and she has to question why there is not more of a desire to invest and increase capacity.

“I don’t understand why there is such an unwillingness to invest in it because it's huge, its thousands of children, two journeys every single day,” says the mother of four.

In addition to this, there is the all-important question of carbon emissions and creating better habits for a younger generation of already eco-conscious children.

“If we don’t invest in behavioural change now for the next generation, nothing is going to change. How can I encourage my kids to change their behaviour if hurdle after hurdle like this is placed in front of them?” she says.

“I love a hot summer. We all do but even the most sceptical of people would have to be getting a little concerned at this stage. There’s a reason why we’ve had these acute seasonal changes.” 

In a statement, the Department of Education said the school transport ticket registration for the coming school year closed on 29 July, by which time almost 130,000 applications/registrations were received and 112,800 tickets have now been issued.

“Bus Éireann will continue to process applications and to issue tickets as soon as extra buses and drivers are sourced and become available to provide transport for the higher numbers qualifying for the service,” it said.

“However, regrettably the unprecedented numbers of new applications for the upcoming school year, has led to some delays in issuing tickets.” 

Bus Éireann has apologised for any inconvenience caused by the delays and said it is continuing to work through remaining applications and families will be contacted as further information is available.