A record number of places have been created on the school transport scheme this year, up by about 20,000 on last year. Fees for the €300 million service have been dropped to help ease the cost-of-living burden facing families. More children with disabilities than ever before are availing of taxis and minibuses to access schools which meet their needs.
On the face of it, this should be a good news story for the Government. The scheme, however, has been mired in controversy. Record demand has led to delays in processing tickets. There has been a shortage of buses and drivers to meet demand. Many families say they have been rejected for tickets which they held last year. And the Minister for Education has been accused of dodging an Oireachtas committee to answer questions on it.
Much of the wrangling over school transport lies in the design of the scheme itself. Pupils are eligible for a ticket where they live more than 3.2km from their nearest relevant primary school or 4.8km from their nearest relevant post-primary school. The department and Bus Éireann – which runs the service – determine what is the relevant school having regard to ethos, language and the shortest traversable route from the child’s home. Any pupils who do not meet these criteria are deemed ineligible and regarded as “concessionary” applicants. They are allocated a ticket based on the availability of a seat once all eligible children have been catered for.
As happens every year, there is an excess of demand over supply for these concessionary places. It means that every year some pupils who had tickets during the previous year lose out the following year. This is hugely frustrating and disruptive for families who arrange their work and family lives around the availability of school transport.
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There is no doubt that the demand-led scheme is a complex logistical undertaking: it involves more than 120,000 children and about 6,000 vehicles operated by private contractors. It is one of the biggest operations of its kind in Europe, partly because Ireland has the highest proportion of small schools in the European Union. Notwithstanding this, a far better system would ensure that concessionary children who get a ticket are guaranteed to retain it.
While more expensive, there would be undoubted gains. School transport plays a positive environmental role by reducing the use of family vehicles to transport children to school. There are also labour market benefits by relieving parents of the burden of transporting their children to school.
These factors should be taken into account in the context of a review of the scheme which is currently under way. The alternative is a chaotic system in which families will continue to lose out from year to year.