School TransportThe main responsibilities of School Transport Section are
To oversee the delivery of a safe and efficient school transport service, operated byBus Éireann on behalf of the Department, within available resources and to ensure acoordinated Departmental approach in delivering school transport services To ensure timely payment of grants to assist eligible families with schooltransportation costs, in circumstances where it is not feasible or economic to provideschool transport services.Summary of School Transport SchemeSchool transport is a significant daily operation, which directly supports over 116,000children, including over 12,000 children with special educational needs, who are transportedin over 4,500 vehicles on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout thecountry covering over 100 million kilometres annually at a total cost of almost €190 million in2017.School Transport provision has evolved considerably since the school transport scheme wasestablished in 1967. However, the purpose of the Scheme has remained the same which is,having regard to available resources, to support the transport to and from school of childrenwho reside remote i.e. 3.2 kilometres (primary) and 4.8 kilometres (post primary) or morefrom their nearest school / education centre.In addition, children who are not eligible for school transport may apply for transport on aconcessionary basis where seats are available after all eligible applicants have beenaccommodated on school transport services. While it is the prerogative of parents to sendtheir children to the school of their choice, eligibility for school transport is to the nearesteducation centre/school.In particular, transport provision for children with special educational needs (SEN) hasexpanded significantly since the 1970's to the current scheme introduced in November 2011.The purpose of the SEN transport scheme is to provide a reasonable level of transport servicefor children with a diagnosed disability and/or special educational need who because of thenature of their disability may not be in a position to avail of a school bus service. While circa11% of children transported have special educational needs transport provision for thesechildren accounts for circa 49% of all school transport scheme expenditure. The number ofchildren on the Special Education Needs (SEN
Delivery of ServiceThe school transport scheme is delivered using a mix of Bus Éireann vehicles (357 operatingdaily) and private contractor vehicles (4,452). Of the private contractor vehicles, 1,200 aretaxis operating on the SEN scheme.Payments to school transport contractors are the single largest area of expenditure in theschool transport scheme, amounting to approximately €132 million in 2017.The level of BE direct provision has been consistently reducing since 2008. The Bus Éireannschool transport fleet has reduced from 532 in 2008 to the current level of 357 which meansthat they are providing less than 10% of school transport services.Grants are payable for both eligible mainstream and special educational needs children incases where there is no suitable school transport service. These grants are processed directlyby Department's School Transport Section staff. Approximately 2,500 families are in receiptof school transport grants.
ChargesCurrent Annual Rate:
Primary: Eligible / Concessionary €100 Family maximum €220
Post Primary: Eligible / Concessionary €350 Family maximum €650School transport charges have remained the same since the 2012/13 school year.Eligible children holding valid medical cards and eligible children with special educationalneeds are exempt from paying the charge.In 2017, receipts from school transport charges amounted to some €15.4m or about 9% ofthe total cost of the scheme provided by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department.
Financial Provision
Note: 2018 Allocation €190 million
Increase in the number of “concessionary” children availing of school transportservices as a consequence of the 2011 budgetary changes.Changes to the school transport scheme (primary and post primary) were announced inBudget 2011, derived from recommendations in the Value for Money Review of the SchoolTransport Scheme (published March 2011). One of the changes at primary was the cessationof the long standing “closed school rule” and at post primary the cessation of the longstanding catchment boundary area system (CB) to determine eligibility. These changes,introduced in 2011 and 2012 respectively, will take a full school cycle of 8/6 years respectivelyto implement viz. completion by June 2019/June 2018.Existing children at that time who were eligible for school transport, and met the distancecriteria of 3.2kms/4.8 kms respectively, retain their transport eligibility for the duration oftheir schooling, provided their circumstances do not change.This approach complements the overall Department policy which is to ensure that specificschool accommodation needs for defined geographical areas are addressed in an orderlyfashion.Transport on a “concessionary” basis is available to children who are not eligible for schooltransport, because they are not attending their nearest school or because they reside lessthan the requisite distance. Transport on a concessionary basis is subject to a number ofconditions which are detailed in the School Transport Scheme such as the existence of spareseats on the bus after all eligible children have been catered for and payment of the schooltransport charge regardless of whether the child holds a valid medical card.As a consequence of these changes, the evidence is that a growing number of children areavailing of school transport on a concessionary basis since 2011 as follows:

*C denotes concessionary
Concessionary TransportThe Programme for Government committed to a review of the concessionary charges and ruleselement of the School Transport Scheme. This review was commenced in June 2016 and published inDecember of that year. As part of the review process an Oireachtas Cross Party Working Group wasestablished to feed into the review and that group met to discuss school transport issues. The reviewpublished in December made recommendations on both the charges and the rules element ofconcessionary school transport.As outlined in the review there have been a number of reports on the school transport scheme overthe years and the current scheme is based on a detailed Value for Money Review published in2011. Therefore this review did not deal with the range of issues dealt with in that report.With regard to the charges for concessionary school the recommended course of action was tocontinue with the current position whereby charges remain in place for those in receipt ofconcessionary places. Minister Halligan agreed with this recommendation on the basis that thoseapplying for concessionary transport are making a conscious decision to do so and understand theimplications of this choice at the time of application.The report also recommended that the number of concessionary places should be reduced in line withthe rules introduced in 2012 on a phased basis. Previous plans to advance this option were put onhold, pending the completion of the review. However upon consideration of the review anddiscussions at the Cross Party Working Group Minister Halligan decided that there should be noplanned programme of downsizing in the coming year except in line with normal operationaldecisions within the current scheme.
School Transport Appeals BoardThe School Transport Appeals Board was first established in 2003. The Board is appointed by theMinister of State, Department of Education and Skills, for a period of three years and may be removedby him/her for stated reasons.It currently comprises of a chairperson and four other members appointed by the Minister. The Boardis independent in the performance of its functions but acts in accordance with (a) its Terms ofReference as determined by the Minister and (b) a set of published Operating Procedures.The Board currently examines and determines appeals against decisions made by, or on behalf of, theDepartment regarding the provision of school transport services and/or grant-aid under the terms ofthe School Transport Scheme.
The current Board was appointed in July 2018 and comprises:Chairperson: Ms. Connie Carolan, National Parents Council Post Primary
Board members: Mr. Seán Mac Conmara, former Divisional Inspector with the DepartmentMs. Bridie Kearns former Regional School Transport Manager Bus ÉireannMr. Joe Fitzsimons, former post primary teacherMr. Ciarán Flynn, former General Secretary ACCS