Distancing rules on school buses to cost up to €135m
THE extra buses and staff needed to allow for social distancing for post-primary pupils across the school transport scheme will cost an additional €87m-€135m in the current academic year.
Capacity for the 52,000 eligible post-primary pupils has been cut by 50pc amid efforts to stop the spread of Covid-19. The same applies to public transport.
The service, which normally carries about 120,000 eligible and concessionary primary and post-primary school
pupils, on 40 million journeys a year, already costs €219m.
Shortly before the current term began, the public health advisory body, Nphet, advised that social distancing rules must apply to second-level pupils.
The Nphet recommendation for primary school pupils was that they should physically distance where possible.
Last year, the 100 million kilometres a year service operated about 5,000 vehicles, a mix of buses and taxis – the latter often used for the 14,200 children with special educational needs who use the scheme.
But an additional 1,600 buses and drivers and 650 more school bus escorts are needed to meet the Nphet requirements for post-primary pupils.
In reply to a parliamentary question, Education Minister Norma Foley put the additional cost, in a full year, at €87m-€135m.
She said the Government had agreed to provide the funding to ensure implementation of the measures required.
She said her department had been engaging with Bus Éireann on the logistics involved with the rolling implementation of measures on post-primary services as required to provide physical distancing.
When the current school year started, only about 20pc of services were operating, at 50pc capacity. Bus Éireann is working to boost capacity by contracting more vehicles and recruiting drivers. The tendering and staff vetting processes involved in augmenting the service will take time.
Parents of second-level pupils who can’t take up their place on the bus because of social distancing restrictions qualify for a payment of up to €5.10 a day to support alternative travel arrangements.
The concession extends to driving their children to school themselves and claiming a petrol allowance.
The payment applies only to students who are eligible for a seat on school transport and not those who get a concessionary place if there is spare capacity.
Parents have to meet the costs upfront and will be reimbursed following receipt of relevant documentation confirming the number of days of school attended in the 2020/2021 year.