27 families in Waterford and 1,300 nationally are still without school transport. That's according to local Labour councillor, John Pratt who called the situation 'disgraceful,' saying 'this is an issue which comes up every year.'
Last July, the government announced funding which got rid of school transport fees for 2022/2023. However this resulted in more applications for the scheme, and families that had places previously, missed out.
While the 27 families have appealed the decision by the Department of Education, Cllr. Pratt believes it is unlikely that the situation will be resolved for them before next year.
Appeals
Commenting on the appeals, he said: " 37% of the total appeals the Department have dealt with have come from the greater Dublin area. The Minister needs to ditch the Dublin centric approach and ensure that transport appeals across the country are dealt with in a timely manner."
Calling for an overhaul on both the school bus and the appeals system, he said families should be given answers within weeks and not months.
Responding to Labour's Deputy Seán Sherlock, Minister Norma Foley said:
"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. "
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