1182. Deputy Jen Cummins asked the Minister for Education and Youth the number of school transport routes for children with additional needs over the past five years, in tabular form. [55747/26]

The School Transport Scheme, which Bus Éireann operates on behalf of the Department, has expanded significantly over the past six years. In that time, the numbers of children and young people using the service have grown from under 120,000 pupils in 2018 to over 181,000 pupils including over 24,000 pupils with Special Educational Needs in 2025 which equates to an increase of over 50%. Since 2018, investment in the scheme has more than doubled, from €200 million to €537 million in 2025.

The growth in school transport has been especially marked in the area of SEN. This now represents almost 60% of the scheme’s total costs, while serving around 13% of pupils.

As part of the operation of the scheme, Bus Éireann manages the procurement tender process and contract management arrangements to include services provided by contractors under the School Transport Scheme.

The data requested by the Deputy is provided in the attached table.