107. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Education and Youth the progress made to date on the school transport pilot scheme; if there are plans to extend this beyond its current scope; and if so, when this is likely to be announced. [73912/26]

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%.

The School Transport 2030 report was published in early 2024. 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 2km for primary and post primary and the need for a pupil to be attending their nearest school is removed. These pilots are limited in scope and capacity.

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

A comprehensive evaluation of the pilots in the 2025/2026 school year is currently underway. The findings from the evaluation should guide the planning and implementation needed for a national rollout of a revised School Transport Scheme, subject to the availability of resources.