The School Transport Scheme is a government programme to support transport to and from school for children who reside remote from their nearest school. The scheme is operated by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education and Skills. This can be an invaluable resource for those who live far from their school, and is an helps to alleviate costs and transport issues for some parents! The ins, outs, and costs of applying are outlined below.
Participating children are picked up from set locations provided by Bus Eireann and the Department of Education, and brought to and from the nearest national school available to them.
The cost per primary child is €50 for a full academic year of transport, but this is limited to €125 for families with primary school children only. Post-Primary transport will cost €75 per child, and the maximum cost per family is €125 per year.
The Bus Éireann family portal is now open to accept new applications until Friday the 26th April 2024 and to accept payments from new and reapplying families who requires a seat on a service for the 24/25 school year until Friday 7th June 2024. Previous applicants who are re-applying for the service for 2024/25 need to log in to their account on the Bus Eireann portal where they will see details of their children from the previous year and follow instructions to process payment for 2024/25
Payments made after the deadline date will be deemed late and families may not be guaranteed a seat at that stage. After payment is made, or the first instalment of payment, the tickets are mailed to the recipients.
Only new students need to apply, New Applications are considered as:
A review of the School Transport Scheme has been completed by the Department of Education. This review was conducted with a view to examining the current scheme, its broader effectiveness, and sustainability and to ensure it services students and their families adequately. The School Transport Scheme 2030 report has now been published,
A phased implementation of the review’s recommendations will commence in September 2024. This will include a shared effort between my Department and the Department of Transport to pilot and introduce greater integration of the roll out of transport networks with school transport routes, with a view to expanding provision of transport and reducing the reliance over time on individual car trips for school journeys. It is intended subject to resources to commence implementing the revised eligibility criteria in the 2025/2026 school year. Please visit www.gov.ie/education for more information.
**NEW** From Tuesday 19th March the contact numbers for Bus Eireann School Transport will change to a Locall number covering all Bus Eireann School Transport regions. The number to contact Bus Eireann School Transport is 0818 919 910.
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