School Transport
Seanad Éireann — 2026-03-18
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Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (FF), Carlow-Kilkenny

I am taking this on behalf of the Minister. I thank the Senator for raising the matter, which is very serious. I am a parent myself.
As the Senator knows, the school transport scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education and Youth. Bus Éireann manages the procurement and tender process and contract management arrangements to include service providers by the contractors under the scheme. The school transport fleet is made up of contractors and Bus Éireann vehicles. Over 90% of the services are provided by contractors operating on school transport schemes. Over €69 million in additional funding has been allocated to school transport services in 2026. This is to provide for additional demand from pupils with special educational needs on school transport services and increased bus contract running costs. The Department is very much aware of this issue. It will also provide for additional funding for the school transport scheme fleet in order to implement improved technologies, such as e-ticketing on school transport services.
Bus Éireann has advised that to date during the 2025-26 school year, there have been three incidents where there were operational issues with the vehicle on the route in question. However, on each occasion a replacement vehicle was provided. In addition, on the days where the driver was not able to operate the service, cover was sourced in order to ensure there was no more disruption for pupils availing of the service.
The Senator has said there seem to have been many more incidents. When I was reading the brief for this debate today, I noted the Department of Transport has indicated that the wider public transport sector has faced a number of challenges with regard to the recruitment of drivers, mechanics and craft workers in the past 12 to 18 months. Unfortunately, these challenges have an impact on service delivery and speed. I understand the difficulty. I assure the Senator I will go back to the Minister on this. As I said, she has said this has happened more frequently. I will highlight this because every child is important. As a parent I know texts are sent late at night. Everyone wants to make sure their child has a lift to school.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-03-18/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:44+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-18