School bus charges will not rise, says Haughey
He confirmed to TDs at the Dáil Education Committee that his officials are in discussions with the Department of Finance about An Bord Snip Nua’s suggestion last year that a flat charge of €500 be levied on all pupils who use the school transport service.
The measure would meet half the €1,000-per-pupil cost to taxpayers of providing the services to those attending mainstream schools, although the average cost is estimated at almost €1,500 when special needs pupils availing of the service are included. Even with increased charges introduced in the past three years, only €19m was raised from charges to families out of a total school transport budget last year of €178m.
That is expected to reach €186m this year but Fine Gael’s Frank Feighan, said any further fare hikes would have serious consequences for rural communities.
“The cost for a child up to Junior Certificate has gone from €99 to €300 a year since 2007, and that’s putting people off the road. In the last year, 10,000 people have opted out of the school transport system.”
The Roscommon-South Leitrim TD said increasing the charges further would undermine the viability of rural schools that do not have public transport.
Galway East TD, Ulick Burke (FG), said if children do not have an alternative to the school bus, there is a risk of more cars on dangerous rural roads and there could be serious accidents.
Mr Haughey assured the committee there would be no change to existing charges for the next school year but said talks are taking place against the background of the Bord Snip Nua recommendations.
“The charges raise 7% of the cost of the scheme and, even following the three increases which came after 10 years of no increases, they still represent very good value for money compared to the private sector,” he said.
He said some families who have opted out of the scheme have paid €700 to €800 a year for private services.
The number of children carried on school buses has dropped by 10,000 this year, partly because of the increased charges. The department lost further income because of an rise in families eligible for free transport as medical card holders.
Around 125,000 children are transported to school by the service every day, including 8,000 pupils with special educational needs.
The annual cost of the service has risen by around €50m since 2005, fuelled partly by safety measures which ended the practice that allowed three children to share two seats.
Mr Haughey said greater cost efficiencies are constantly sought from Bus Éireann which operates the system for the Department of Education. His review of controversial school catchment boundaries, which determine eligibility for school transport and have not been changed since being drawn up more than 40 year ago, will be published soon.
