THE LABOUR PARTY has called for an “urgent overhaul” of the “failing” school transport system.

Labour’s Education Spokesperson Eoghan Kenny said this call follows a “surge in complaints from parents who cannot secure bus places for their children”.

He said that the Minister for Education, Helen McEntee, “must act without delay to fix a scheme that is leaving working families stranded”.

Kenny said many parents are contacting him with “serious concerns about school transport”.

The Labour TD said some families are being told there is no space available for their children on buses.

“Others are being refused places because the Department claims their child’s school is not the ‘feeder school’ based on distance – when in fact it is,” added Kenny.

Under the terms of the School Transport Schemes, children are eligible for transport at primary level if they are attending their nearest national school and live more than 3.2km away.

At post-primary level, they are eligible if they are attending their nearest post-primary school/education centre and live more than 4.8 km away.

Distance is determined by the Department of Education and/or Bus Éireann.

Meanwhile, temporary alleviation measures continue to be in place at post-primary level, which means that if there are available services and enough capacity, transport will be provided for pupils attending their second nearest school or post-primary centre.

However, Kenny said the system “simply isn’t working” and is creating “barriers to education”.

“Parents are scrambling to arrange lifts, relying on neighbours, or driving long distances themselves because the service has failed them,” said Kenny, who added that “working families are suffering most”.

He said some parents have had to cut back their hours and in some cases “leave their jobs entirely just to get their children to and from school”.

Kenny said that “minor tweaks” are not enough that there a “complete overhaul” is required.

“The current criteria, capacity limits and appeals process are outdated and unfit for purpose,” said Kenny.

“The demand for places has outgrown the system, and families are paying the price.”

He said capacity needs to be expanded on popular routes to ensure the feeder school policy “reflects reality on the ground” and for a “fair and transparent allocation process” to be enacted.

Kenny called for Minister McEntee to convene an “immediate review of the school transport system with a view to delivering a full overhaul”.

In a statement to The Journal, a spokesperson for the Education Department remarked that the School Transport Scheme “continues to grow year on year, now supporting more children on more routes across the country than ever before”.

For the upcoming school year, over 135,000 tickets have been issued so far – a 6% increase compared to the same time last year.

The spokesperson said further route expansions are planned and pilot programmes are also underway, and that the department “remains committed to improving and expanding school transport to meet growing demand”.

The spokesperson also pointed to the School Transport 2030 report, which was published early last year.

“The Government is committed to working to achieve the report’s recommendation of expanding access to the scheme so that an additional 100,000 pupils can be carried by 2030, subject to resources being available,” said the spokesperson.

However, Sinn Féin’s spokesperson on Education, Darren O’Rourke, noted that one of the report’s recommendations was reducing distance criteria to 1km for primary students and 2km for post-primary students, as well as removing the “nearest school” criteria completely.

“Every year, children are denied a place on their local school bus due to arbitrary, and incredibly frustrating, eligibility criteria,” said O’Rourke.

He also described the number of pilot programmes, 14 in total, as “tiny” and added that there has been “no real action for families who need solutions now”.

“The Minister must intervene to ensure that every child who needs a bus seat gets one,” said O’Rourke.

“The time for reviews is over – now it’s time for delivery.”

Elsewhere, Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore, the party’s transport spokesperson, called for Bus Éireann and the Department of Education to immediately outline how many pupils will be affected by last-minute cancellations of bus services due to operate next week.

“It is completely unacceptable that parents have just received emails from Bus Éireann to say no transport arrangements are yet in place for their child’s school route next week.

“This is despite the fact that these children were eligible to apply for the School Transport Scheme and had already been issued with tickets.”

She said Bus Éireann has pointed to “difficulties” arising from the lack of an available driver or contractor on some routes.

“In some cases, the company said zero bids were received for a service, despite repeated efforts to procure one,” said Whitmore.

She called for the rollout of a nationwide school bus programme so that every student who needs transport can get it.

“For now, however, we need clarity on which routes have been impacted, the number of students affected, and a realistic timescale for resolution.”