No hike in cost of school bus tickets

Families will be able to apply for tickets for the new school year when the Bus Éireann portal opens at the end of this month.

The Department of Education has scrapped a plan to increase the cost of school bus tickets. 

The Irish Examiner first revealed significant changes are set to be made to the School Transport Scheme, including to eligibility criteria and a reduction in the distance rules, which will see thousands more children qualifying.

Education Minister Norma Foley is to bring the long-awaited review to Cabinet on Tuesday and has scrapped a proposal to increase the price of a ticket.

The fee for a primary school child is €50 and for a post-primary student it is €75. The maximum fee for a family is €125.  

This fee structure is now going to be kept in place for the 2024-2025 school year, with sources stating this will help families to cope with the cost-of-living crisis. 

In a paper prepared for ministers last week, there was a proposal to increase the fee from €50 to €75 per primary pupil and from €75 to €150 per post-primary pupil.

Children who hold a full medical card and pupils who are eligible for the special educational needs (SEN) transport services remain exempt from the charge.

Families will be able to apply for tickets for the new school year when the Bus Éireann portal opens at the end of this month.

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The rules of the scheme will remain the same for the forthcoming 2024/2025 school year due to the current challenges securing additional buses and drivers in the tight labour market. 

But the review of the scheme recommends phasing in a series of changes after that, in the period up to 2030, including abolishing a rule which requires a student applying to the scheme to choose the nearest school to their house and reducing the distance regualations.

Under the current rules, a primary school pupil must live at least 3.2 km from their school to qualify for a bus place. 

This will go to 2km and then 1km, depending on funding, sources have said.

A post-primary school student must live at least 4.8km from their school to qualify for a bus place. This will go to 2km, also dependent on funding.

The changes will see thousands more children being able to access the scheme.

To date, Bus Éireann has issued over 135,000 tickets for pupils on mainstream school transport services, while more than 19,800 SEN pupils and 6,800 Ukrainian children are also being transported to schools.