1191. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Education and Youth if she will ensure a school bus ticket is granted to a student (details supplied). [55886/26]

The School Transport Scheme is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education and Youth.

Under the current terms of the mainstream school transport scheme, children are eligible for transport at post primary level where they reside not less than 4.8 kilometres from and are attending their nearest post primary centre as determined by the department/Bus Éireann, having regard to ethos and language.

Eligible children who complete the application process on time will be accommodated on a service where one is available.

Where a child is not eligible for school transport, but the application and payment process is completed on time, they will be considered for any spare seats available after eligible children have been accommodated. These seats are called concessionary seats. There may be more demand than availability for concessionary seats. In such cases, Bus Éireann will use a selection process to allocate tickets for the spare seats.

Bus Éireann have advised that the pupil in question is not eligible for transport as they are attending their third nearest post primary centre. I regret to advise they were unsuccessful in receiving a concessionary ticket for the 2026/27 school year, the service is currently operating at capacity.