Local TD Writes To Public Accounts Committee Over Concerns About School Transport Scheme

Social Democrats TD for Wicklow, Jennifer Whitmore has written to the Public Accounts Committee outlining her concerns regarding the ongoing issues with the School Transport Scheme and the delivery of this service by Bus Éireann and the Department of Education.

Deputy Whitmore highlighted the fact that almost three weeks into the new school year many school bus routes are still not operating, and parents, who have already paid for their children’s school bus tickets, have been left scrambling to make alternative arrangements to get their children to school.

“It’s now mid-September, and hundreds of children across the country still don’t have a way of getting to school because their bus routes are not in operation yet. I am aware of at least 11 school bus routes, including some for children with additional or complex needs, in my own constituency of Wicklow which are still not running. This is putting a huge amount of stress and worry on parents who have already paid for this service which Bus Éireann and the Department of Education are failing to deliver,” commented Ms Whitmore.

“Last year there were similar issues which saw some of our school bus routes in Wicklow not coming into operation until December and in one case, as late as April 2024. The School Transport Scheme is a subsidised service which receives government funding, but for many families this service is simply not being delivered. I have written to the Public Accounts Committee to bring this situation to their attention and share with them my concerns about where allocated public funding and monies paid by parents for tickets, is being spent when in many instances a school transport service has not been provided,” explained Deputy Whitmore.

“Earlier this year the Minister for Education announced that a phased expansion of the School Transport Scheme would start from the 2025/26 school year so that more children would be eligible for the service. While this is a welcome development, I do not have confidence in the Minister or the department to be able to deliver such an expansion of the scheme when the current system is not working and Bus Éireann are unable to secure enough bus operators to provide the existing school transport scheme service,” added Ms Whitmore.

“Schools start back at the same time every year and every year families are being let down by the school transport scheme. We need to see measures put in place throughout the year to ensure that this kind of back-to-school bus chaos is not repeated, again. There are a lot of questions that need answering about the planning and delivery of this scheme, which at present is failing so many children across the country,” concluded Jennifer Whitmore, who is also the Social Democrats spokesperson for Children.