1320. Deputy John Clendennen asked the Minister for Education and Youth the assessment that has been undertaken of the number of vacant seats travelling daily on the school transport scheme services; the breakdown of vacant seats, by county, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [57739/26]

I wish to advise the Deputy that the information sought is not available.

Bus Éireann is responsible for the planning and timetabling of school transport routes and for issuing tickets on behalf of the Department of Education and Youth. The scheme is demand-led based on the number of eligible children who apply.

As part of its operation of the scheme, Bus Éireann endeavours wherever possible to ensure all vehicles are full to capacity. Services in all locations are considered when planning mainstream services for the upcoming school year.

With regard to ticket usage, it is recognised that all pupils issued with tickets will not travel every morning and every evening. In addition, certain after school activities may also result in pupils not travelling on certain days. Bus Éireann organises for vehicles to be full to capacity with tickets based on applications received and based on the seating capacity of the vehicle.

For safety reasons, it is not possible to issue additional tickets over and above the seating capacity of the vehicle which could result in a potential overload situation arising and all pupils not being carried on the service.

The department is currently examining a number of technological improvements to the School Transport Scheme, including the planned introduction of eTicketing on a phased basis. Not only would eTickets replace the current printed paper tickets but eTicketing should provide accurate information on ticket utilisation, which is currently not readily available.