The government must “finally address” recurring failures in school transport, according to Social Democrats education spokesperson Jen Cummins TD.
The Social Democrats TD said that the School Transport Scheme is making families face the “same uncertainty at the beginning of every school year.”
The Dublin South Central TD said, “every August, like clockwork, we hear from families who have done everything asked of them when applying for the transport scheme but are left scrambling to figure out how they are going to get their children to school.”
“This is not a new or unforeseen problem. It has become an annual crisis, and the government’s failure to resolve it is simply unacceptable; This year, many parents are again being told that their children cannot access school transport because they are not attending their nearest school. But that completely ignores the reality of our education system as, in many cases, a child is attending a school further from home because their nearest school is full or simply cannot offer them a place.”
Cummins said that “parents should not be punished for a lack of capacity in the education system, which is a situation entirely outside their control.”
“We now have families facing private transport costs of up to €1,400 per child for the school year, compared with a maximum charge of €200 under the School Transport Scheme. At a time when households are already struggling with enormous back-to-school costs, that is an extraordinary additional financial burden.”
The Soc Dems TD said “the government has already had ample opportunity to reform the scheme. A review of the School Transport Scheme recommended in 2024 that the requirement for children to attend their nearest school should be removed and that eligibility should ultimately be expanded to an additional 100,000 students by 2030. Yet here we are, two years later, with parents still left high and dry by the same outdated rules.”
“Minister of State Michael Moynihan has said that the Department of Education needs to wait for the outcome of 26 pilot schemes before making an ‘informed decision’. But families worrying about how their children will get to school in the coming weeks will rightly wonder how much more information the Government needs at this stage.”
She said “the fundamental problem is obvious; the current system does not reflect how families actually access school places, particularly in areas where schools are oversubscribed.”
“This government has developed a habit of governing by pilot scheme, review and report while families are left dealing with the consequences of its inaction,” she remarked.
“More than 181,000 children used the School Transport Scheme last year, a 50% increase since 2019. Yet the government has failed to ensure that the system keeps pace with rising demand.”
Cummins also said she was concerned about the increased cost of the scheme ahead of the upcoming school year.
“Earlier this year, the government doubled school transport charges to €200 for a primary school child and €300 for a post-primary student, with a family cap of €750. Parents are being asked to pay significantly more while many still cannot be guaranteed a seat on a bus.”
“The Minister for Education must now set out an urgent plan to provide additional capacity where it is needed; reform the nearest-school rule so children are not penalised if their closest school cannot accommodate them; and ensure families have certainty well in advance of the beginning of the school year,” Cummins said.
“Parents have enough to contend with at this time of year without having to fight for something as basic as getting their child to school; under Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, this has become a recurring annual crisis. The government needs to stop treating school transport as an issue that suddenly emerges every August.”