I wish to raise the school transport scheme. Thousands of children across the State have been left without places on school buses. Scores of children in my county of Meath, including at least 23 in north Meath who attend to O'Carolan College in Nobber, have been affected. The Government conducted a review of the scheme. It emerged that what locks many people out are the eligibility criteria. People who qualify for concessionary tickets are being left off school buses. Bus Éireann says that it cannot sanction extra places for concessionary pupils without getting the okay from the Minister. I am looking for the Minister to okay those additional places. When will the eligibility criteria be changed in line with the Government's review? Will the Government introduce a monitoring system in respect of the actual usage of the tickets? This is a significant issue. Tickets are allocated but many are not used on a daily basis.

This has been a big priority for Government over the past number of years. That is reflected in how we have budgeted for this and how we expanded the scheme. There has been a 50% increase in pupils utilising school transport this year compared with 2019. That has been reflected in how we are supporting it. I accept that there are particular issues in feedback from local communities where a ticket is given and not utilised and where another pupil who requires a ticket is not given one. There should probably be better monitoring by Bus Éireann and the Department of education in order to ensure that we ensure that we maximise capacity. That is a frustration for parents and children. I will reflect the feedback from the Deputy to the Department of education. This is something that should happen. It should be a use-it-or-lose-it policy rather than a ticket being bought or a concessionary ticket being given and then not being utilised throughout the year to the detriment of someone who would use it. We can better manage current capacity within that.