Families yet to hear news of school bus places

CORK TDs and senators are calling for action to resolve issues with children waiting to hear if they have a place on the school bus for the coming academic year.

In past years, the School Transport Scheme provided free transport to eligible pupils who live a minimum distance from their school, and then concessionary tickets could be bought by other pupils if seats were still available on the bus.

A recent announcement by the Government that all school transport fees, including for concessionary tickets, were to be waived this year to counter the cost of living crisis, has triggered an unprecedented number of applications to the School Transport Scheme.

As reported by RTÉ, there were a record 130,000 applications this year, with almost a third from first-time applicants. Over 112,000 tickets for the 2022/2023 school year have been issued, but thousands of families are still waiting to hear if their children have been allocated a place. Spaces are being allocated on a lottery basis. Many children who have paid for a concessionary ticket for years have already been told they have not gotten a place this year.

Cork senator Jerry Buttimer said it is “regrettable” that a number of people have not yet heard about their bus place.

“It’s important that Bus Éireann works with families and school children to ensure that, first of all, they’re accommodated, and secondly that they provide accurate information to the people and the families in question,” he said.

He added Bus Éireann has reopened its registration portal in recent days, which closed in July, so that people can check on the progress of their application.

Fellow Fine Gael senator Tim Lombard said school bus drivers aged over 70 could be used to ease pressures on school transport services. Currently, school bus drivers can only work up to the retirement age of 70.

“Experienced and qualified bus drivers, aged 70 and over, are currently not being used. This needs to be examined and resolved,” he said.

Meanwhile, Cork East TD Sean Sherlock said the “August angst” of parents awaiting school transport tickets is not new. “Bus Éireann can only operate the system they are instructed to operate by Government”

“They end up in the firing line of parents unaware of where they stand with school transport ticket a matter of days before the school year resumes,” he said.

The Department of Education was contacted for comment.