Department quiet on cost of taxis for pupils doubling in four years

However, the department has refused to show which businesses are benefitting from the increase, having been asked for the value of contracts handed out to individual suppliers. The request for information was refused, with the department saying that to release those figures could either reveal trade secrets or result in “material financial loss” for individual companies.

The figures released to the Irish Examiner show that in 2020, €37.9m was spent on the scheme, which is administered by Bus Éireann and sees smaller vehicles used to get children to school in places without bus services or where the child’s needs are complex. This rose to €46.7m in 2021, to €63.3m in 2022 and €78.9m in 2023. 

Government sources say they expect the 2024 figure to be above €80m. Of last year’s spend, some €17m was spent in Dublin and €15.7m in Cork. The increased expenditure has been put down to factors including covid measures and the expansion of the scheme due to cost of living measures.

The overall cost of school transport rose from €203.6m in 2018 to €384.02m in 2023.

'Important service'

Junior minister Colm Burke told the Dáil that, in the 2023-24 school year, more than 163,600 children, including more than 136,000 pupils travelling on primary and post-primary services, 20,200 pupils with special educational needs and 7,400 pupils from Ukraine, were “transported daily to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country”.

In a note, the department said that the scheme is “an important service for families and children”.

It says smaller vehicles are mainly used on the school transport scheme for children with special educational needs due to the “often complex individual requirements of the children availing of transport for the scheme”.

The scheme provides free school transport to children with diagnosed disabilities who meet the criteria.

“All services are planned to meet the individual requirements of children travelling, with the majority of services operating on a door-to-door basis.

“In arranging transport, Bus Éireann consider the specialised nature of transport provision for pupils with special educational needs under the School Transport Scheme.”

The department said the number of children availing of the special educational needs scheme has increased from some 13,410 pupils in 2018 to over 21,053 pupils in the current school year.

The special educational needs scheme accounts for over 50% of the total cost of operating the school transport scheme.