1121. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Education and Youth the number of school bus routes run by Bus Éireann from 2022-2027 inclusive, in tabular form, and if she will make a statement on the matter. [60082/26]

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

The purpose of the scheme is, having regard to available resources, to support the transport to and from school of children who reside remote from their nearest school. It is made up of the Mainstream scheme at Primary and Post Primary level, as well as the scheme for pupils with Special Educational Needs.

The scheme 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 180,000 pupils in 2025, which equates to an increase of close to 50%.

Bus Éireann is responsible for the planning, timetabling of school transport routes and issuing of tickets on behalf of the Department.

The scheme is operated using a mix of Bus Éireann owned vehicles and directly recruited drivers, and private contractors who recruit their own drivers to operate the scheme.

The information requested by the Deputy is provided on the attached table. Information on the 2026-27 school year is not available at this time.

Total Number of School Transport Routes per School Year

Source Data: P5 2022, P6 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026.