Bus Éireann says issues relating to a school bus route in Clare are being reviewed as a matter of priority.
It’s after up to ten students, who were granted concessionary ticket for the bus from Lisseycasey to Kildysart, were left with no transport earlier this week.
The issue of school bus transport has also bee raised in the Dáil, by Clare’s Indpendent TD following another issue in the East of the county.
Bus Éireann, which operates the School Transport Scheme on behalf of the Department of Education, has apologised to parents and acknowledged their frustration after several students were left without transport.
The company says that given the complexities of restarting school transport in the context of Covid-19, its School Transport Scheme customer care team is receiving 40 per cent more calls, and that each call has been taking twice as long to resolve.
But it’s reassuring that the situation has improved now, while it says issues on the Lisseycasey to Kildysart route are being reviewed as a matter of priority.
Mother of five Catherine relies on the bus service for two of her sons, who are among up to ten who were left without spaces, having been previously granted concessionary passes.
She says she now has to travel up to 300 kilometres every week for school drop-offs, which she says is causing huge difficulty for her, and many others.
Clare’s Independent TD has also raised concern over school bus transport in the Dáil, after another family, in Broadford, were informed their children were not eligible for tickets to Tulla, but are for Killaloe.
Bus Éireann says eligibility is determined by measuring the shortest route from the child’s home to their school, but Deputy Michael McNamara says this doesn’t make sense.
The Tanaiste says the Government working with Bus Éireann to increase the number of buses.
Leo Varadkar says they want to ensure space is opened up for concessionary students.
