Minister Haughey outlines position on School Bus charges [education.ie]
- Published: 12 February 2010
Seán Haughey, TD Minister of State with responsibility for School Transport today outlined the facts in relation to the costs of the school transport service.
Minister Haughey said it was important for the general public to be made aware of the facts.
The allocation this year for School Transport is €186m which represents a very significant investment by the taxpayer.
The school transport scheme, which is operated by Bus Éireann on his Department's behalf, facilitates the transportation of over 125,000 children to primary and post-primary schools each day. School transport is a very significant operation involving about 42 million journeys and over 82 million kilometres on 6,000 routes every school year.
The introduction of the annual charge, which replaced the term payment system, enabled Bus Éireann to streamline the payments system and the allocation of tickets.
It also ensured that route planning and seating arrangements are managed in a more efficient and cost effective manner.
Furthermore, those who pay the full annual charge, in advance, will benefit from a ticket being issued for the school year and this includes pupils on concessionary travel.
The revised annual charges for school transport have been confined to eligible post-primary children and children availing of concessionary transport.
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