School bus scheme gets 8,100 'late' applications for places after fee is dropped

Children are eligible for transport when they live within 3.2 kms and are attending their nearest school. At post-primary, students must reside no less than 4.8 kms from, and are attending, their nearest school. File photo: Mark Stedman/RollingNews.ie

There is no guarantee that almost 8,100 extra applications for school bus places, made after the Minister for Education announced families will not be charged for their tickets this year, will be able to get a seat.

At the beginning of the month, Norma Foley announced that families that receive a school transport ticket for the upcoming school year will not be charged a fee, given the current cost-of-living crisis.

Between July 14 to July 24, 8,091 late applications were made to the scheme, which is managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education.

As the official closing date for the scheme was in April, these are considered ‘late’ applications and are not guaranteed a seat. These applicants will only be allocated a seat if capacity is available.

The majority of applications were made seeking a school bus place for post-primary students. In the current school year, more than 121,400 students, including more than 15,500 children with special educational needs, have a place on the School Transport Scheme at a cost of over €289m in 2021.

The figures were released to Sean Sherlock, Labour TD for East Cork, via parliamentary question. 

"This was a real chance for the Government to really show they are listening to hard-pressed families facing down the barrel of a return to school cost increase,” he said.

A review of the School Transport Scheme, examining the scheme's effectiveness and sustainability, began in February 2021. "We are still in a situation where the reform review is still underway,” Mr. Sherlock added. 

“There is no movement on establishing universal transport and removing the distance barrier. The reality now is that families are faced, once more, with the annual August angst on whether they get a concessionary ticket or not and whether they will get a refund and transport.

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“All the while, fuel costs continue to rise so those families unable to win the concessionary lottery are faced with higher transport costs once the school year returns. It is unacceptable.”

Under the current terms of the School Transport Scheme, children are eligible for transport when they live within 3.2 kms and are attending their nearest school. At post-primary, students must reside no less than 4.8 kms from, and are attending, their nearest school.

In response to Mr Sherlock, Ms Foley said the review of school transport also includes transport for children with special educational needs, and different elements of the schemes, including eligibilty criteria, trends, costs and costs of drivers, as well as the overall effectiveness in meeting their objectives. 

"The review will also examine the potential for integration of different strands of the scheme and a more co-ordinated approach with other government departments that also use transport services," she said. 

"Decisions in regard to measures for the 2022/23 school year will be made shortly and it is anticipated that the completion of the final phases of the review will be in the shortest timeframe possible," she added. "Once finalised, I will consider the recommendations made in the final report."