32. Deputy Steven Matthews asked the Minister for Education if her attention has been drawn to the concerns of parents and elected representatives regarding the difficulty in communicating with Bus Éireann regarding school transport; the actions she will take to ensure that this is urgently addressed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38026/24]

The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the 2023/24 school year over 163,800 children, including over 136,000 pupils travelling on primary and post primary services, 20,200 pupils with special educational needs, and 7,400 pupils who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine were transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country.

The total cost of the scheme in 2023 was €382.02m.

Over 140,000 mainstream tickets have issued for the 2024/2025 school year, which is already 3% more than the total tickets issued for the full 2023/2024 school year.

Bus Éireann has put in place a dedicated customer care call centre to assist families specifically with School Transport queries during the busy summer period. Families that have queries can contact the call centre on: LoCall 0818 919 910. Operating hours are usually 09.00 – 17.00 Monday to Friday.

Families can also contact Bus Éireann their website: www.buseireann.ie/schooltransport by submitting a query via: www.buseireann.ie/inner.php?id=769,

In addition to this, Bus Éireann has provided the following dedicated email address for use exclusively by Oireachtas Members in order to assist with queries they may have: reps@buseireann.ie