1550. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Education and Youth when it is proposed to implement the terms of the School Transport Review to reduce distance criteria and expand eligibility. [63961/26]

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

The School Transport 2030 report was published in early 2024. The recommended changes to the schemes include expansion of the current eligibility criteria, addressing current operational challenges and moving towards better integration with public transport to ensure the best value for money to the Exchequer.

It was outlined at the time the Review was published that the proposed changes to the eligibility criteria would further increase demand for the scheme. Therefore, it was considered prudent to implement the changes on a phased basis.

As part of this phased rollout, 14 School Transport pilots commenced in the 2024/25 school year. A further 11 pilots were approved for the 2025/26 school year. For these pilots, the distance criteria for pupils are reduced to 2 km for primary and post primary and the need for a pupil to be attending their nearest school is removed.

Due to ongoing challenges in the wider transport sector, including availability of drivers and vehicles, any expansion of services must be carefully planned and phased. While pilot projects are considered in select areas to test revised eligibility criteria, these pilots are limited in scope and capacity.

All pilots are being monitored and an evaluation of the 2025/2026 school year is underway. The findings from the evaluation should guide the planning and implementation needed for a national rollout of a revised School Transport Scheme.

Implementation of the recommendations of the review will continue to be planned on a phased basis, subject to increased financial investment and where there are available resources and capacity to meet the expected increased demand.