Parents to face further school bus ticket 'chaos'

Education minister faces criticism from Coalition and opposition politicians as they are inundated with complaints from parents

Senator Tim Lombard: 'It’s simply not good enough that we are seeing a repeat of the chaos we had last year' regarding school bus tickets. File picture: Jim Coughlan 

Parents are to face “chaos” again over school transport in the coming weeks as politicians are inundated with complaints from parents that their child has not been offered a bus ticket.

Education Minister Norma Foley is facing criticism from both her Coalition colleagues and opposition TDs as families who have been using the school bus service for a number of years are finding themselves without tickets ahead of the return to school.

Fine Gael senator Tim Lombard said: “I can’t believe we’re in the same situation this year as we were last August regarding school transport issues.

“In the last couple of days, this is once again the main issue that frustrated and anxious parents are contacting me about.

“It’s simply not good enough that we are seeing a repeat of the chaos we had last year with school bus tickets and families who have been using the service for a number of years finding themselves without tickets for September.” 

He also pointed out that the review of the school transport scheme, which began in February 2021, has yet to be finalised with recommendations to better the service.

The school transport scheme saw a significant surge in demand when the Government made the decision not to charge for tickets for the last academic year in response to the cost-of-living crisis. It resulted in a 21% increase in tickets issued to pupils and 38% in tickets issued on a concessionary basis.

This put a squeeze on the system. Pupils who always availed of the service were left without a place on the bus and there was a driver and bus shortage. 

In April, Ms Foley announced fees for school transport were being reintroduced with families asked to pay €50 each for primary school students and €75 for post-primary, up to a capped maximum of €125 per family.

Eligibility criteria

• Children are eligible for transport at primary level where they reside not less than 3.2km from and are attending their nearest national school, and at secondary level where they reside not less than 4.8km from and are attending their nearest post primary school; 
• Children who are eligible for school transport and who complete the application and payment process on time will be accommodated on school transport services where such services are in operation; 
• Children who are not eligible, but who complete the application process and payment process on time, are considered for spare seats that may exist after eligible children have been facilitated; such seats are referred to as concessionary seats.

In response to a parliamentary question by Cork East Labour TD Seán Sherlock, Ms Foley said Bus Éireann has stated that, so far, a total of 83,231 tickets have been issued to on-time eligible and concessionary pupils for the upcoming school year. 

She said the number of concessionary applications that will not receive tickets for school transport services is not yet known.

Mr Sherlock said the issuance of concessionary tickets is “anachronistic” and that Bus Éireann has told parents impacted that under the department’s scheme, they are precluded from increasing bus sizes or adding extra buses for concessionary pupils.

“Parents are contacting me either being told they do not have a seat or they are still in limbo," he said.