The inconvenience related to the lack of bus routes in rural areas has been highlighted by parents/guardians in a school transport survey carried out recently by Sinn Féin.
This week, the party launched Budget 2022 proposals “that would see an additional 17,000 seats funded on the School Transport Scheme in the next academic year, and the elimination of fees over a five-year government term” if they were to be implemented.
The School Transport Scheme, which is operated by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education, supports transport to and from school for children who reside remote from their nearest school.
Parents ‘scrambling’ to arrange school transport
Sinn Féin spokesperson on transport Darren O’Rourke said the scheme is an “essential service, catering for 114,000 children daily” but that each year, it is “substantially oversubscribed, leaving parents scrambling to arrange transport to school for their children if they do not get a seat on their local bus”.
“Sinn Féin [is] proposing to invest €17 million to deliver 17,000 extra places in the next academic year, eliminate fees at a cost of €13.8 million over a five-year government term and allocate €5 million for the purchase of new school buses next year,” the Meath East TD explained.
“Our plans would add more buses and routes, cut back school costs for families and encourage the use of public transport from a young age.”
According to the deputy, an expanded scheme could cater for 131,000 daily, removing 40,250 car journeys from Irish roads each day.
“The transport sector currently accounts for over 20% of our total carbon emissions, so if we are to meet our 2030 and 2050 climate targets, we need targeted actions in this area now,” he added.
The Sinn Féin report cited figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) that show at primary level, “only 10.4% of students now take the bus to school, almost half the 19% that was recorded in 1986”.
“On the other hand, the number of students travelling by private car has surged from 24% in 1986 to 59.8% in 2016.
“During almost the same period, between 1990 and 2019, road transport emissions rose by 142.6%.”
Urban-rural split in car use
In June this year, the party launched an online survey to get the views of parents/guardians on the existing school bus transport system.
When asked what they would like to see improved about the current system, the number one issue identified was cost.
At primary level, there is a charge of €100 per year for each eligible child, with a maximum of €220 for each family who only uses the primary school transport scheme.
For families who also have eligible children using the post-primary transport scheme, a maximum of €650 per family per year is charged.
At post-primary level, there is a single annual charge of €350 per pupil. The maximum amount for a family is €650 per year.
The “need for better quality buses” was the second most frequent issue highlighted, followed by the “closest school rule”.
Issues around collection points and times were also raised, along with there not being “enough seats or no routes in rural areas due to an insufficient number of children”.
Sinn Féin noted that this seemed “particularly acute in rural areas, where the requirement of 10 children in an area to warrant a route could not be met for most families”.
There is a “distinct” urban-rural split in both the primary and post-primary figures when it comes to car use, reflecting “the dispersed nature of rural communities”.
Minister for Education Norma Foley and her department has commenced a review of the School Transport Scheme. She has also confirmed plans to provide 1,800 eligible places for post-primary students on the scheme this coming academic year.
Sinn Féin said that this “doesn’t go anywhere near enough to address the demand from parents and students”.