School Transport

Tuesday, 13 December 2022

Questions (354)

Seán Sherlock

Question:

354. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Education the number of appeals currently waiting for assessment under the school transport appeals board by county in tabular form. [61805/22]

View answer

Written answers

Minister for Education

The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department. In the last school year over 121,400 children, including over 15,500 children with special educational needs, are transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country at a cost of over €289m in 2021.

In July 2022, Government announced funding for the waiving of school transport scheme fees for the current school year as part of a wider package of cost of living measures. Ticket registration for the 2022/23 school year closed on 29 July by which time almost 130,000 applications/registrations were received for mainstream school transport. This figure includes 44,299 new applications as well as roll-overs from the previous school year.

Decisions made by, or on behalf of, the Department of Education regarding the provision of school transport services and/or grant-aid under the terms of the School Transport Schemes may be appealed to the School Transport Appeals Board. This Board is independent in the performance of it’s functions but acts in accordance with (a) its Terms of Reference as determined by the Minister and (b) a set of Operating Procedures.

The table below outlines the number of appeals currently waiting for assessment under the school transport appeals board by county in tabular form.

County	Total
Carlow	51
Cavan	55
Clare	53
Cork	192
Donegal	39
Dublin	9
Galway	187
Kerry	27
Kildare	116
Kilkenny	43
Laois	36
Leitrim	27
Limerick	46
Longford	11
Louth	83
Mayo	19
Meath	102
Monaghan	32
Offaly	25
Roscommon	19
Sligo	43
Tipperary	42
Waterford	27
Westmeath	18
Wexford	64
Wicklow	23
TOTAL	1389