School transport services
THERE were 457 children in Louth deemed not eligible for school transport at the beginning of the school year, the Minister for Education and Skills confirmed.
Louth TD Gerry Adams queried the figures for children who did not receive a place on the school transport scheme, during a Dail debate last week. He also asked if an audit is carried out to assess the safety and roadworthiness of school buses
Minister for Education and Skills said that figures from Bus Éireann indicated that 1,648 children who are eligible for school transport and who completed the application process on time were issued with tickets for school transport in County Louth for the 2018/19 school year.
‘A total of 97 children who are eligible for school transport were not issued tickets as they did not complete the application process on time,’ said the Minister.
‘In addition, 457 children who are not eligible for school transport but who completed the application process on time were issued tickets for school transport where spare seats were available; 18 children who were not eligible and who completed the application process on time were not allocated tickets as services are operating to capacity. ‘
He added that there are 11 Bus Éireann vehicles operating to various schools in County Louth and there are 145 Contractor’s vehicles operating to various schools. ‘In order to be considered roadworthy a bus must pass an annual Commercial Vehicle Roadworthiness Test, conducted under the auspices of the Road Safety Authority at approved test centres around the country. Bus Éireann school transport providers are contractually obliged to ensure that their vehicle has an up to date roadworthiness certificate issued by an RSA accredited test centre. The contractor is obliged to keep their roadworthiness certificate current and up to date and provide Bus Éireann with evidence of this.’