Children without bus transport to walk 17km to school

Some 15 students failed to secure a bus place since the introduction of free school transport.

Children and parents are to walk 17km to school this morning along country roads to highlight the families who have been left without a place on the school bus.

Approximately 15 students who have been left without a place in Co Meath will walk to school along the Ballivor to Trim Rd.

The group is among the hundreds of students across the country who have been affected by a lack of places on the school bus system after the government made the service free of charge, which resulted in a spike in registrations.

In September, two Cork students hit the headlines after they were forced to drive tractors to school after failing to secure tickets for the school bus.

This year, 20 children in Glenville failed to secure a place on the bus since the introduction of free school transport. 

Many parents affected in Meath now have to take time off work to drop their children to school, according to Aontú leader and Meath TD Peadar Tóibin.

“This causes tensions with employers and puts some parents in danger of losing their job. It does not make sense that in a cost of living crisis and a climate change crisis that we still have thousands of parents driving their children to school.” 

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Government ministers are urging citizens to get out of their cars and use public transport or walk and cycle to work and school, he added. “Yet in many towns and villages there is little or no public transport and cycleways are non-existent.”

"This highlights the reality gap faced by families of life in regional rural Ireland between the pronouncements of Government Ministers and the complete lack of non-car transport infrastructure."

A spokeswoman for Bus Éireann said it acknowledges the unprecedented demand for the school transport scheme this year. More than 5,250 tickets have been issued for school transport in Co. Meath, which represents an 18% increase from last year.