More than 30 children and young people are to begin the upcoming academic year without any access to school transport, according to reports.
This comes amid increasing demand for the School Transport Scheme, which is operated by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. It has also led to parents calling for intervention from the Minister for Education.
According to reports in RTÉ, over 181,000 children and young people have availed for the School Transport Scheme, which is an increase of 50% from 2019.
Despite the increasing demand, the rules for this scheme have remained mainly unchanged, which has led to many families falling foul to the rule that their children attend the nearest school.
This rule, which is under Department of Education policy, states that children are generally eligible for school transport if they live at least 3.2 km from their nearest primary school or 4.8 km from their nearest post primary school.
In order to qualify, they must attend their nearest school, with exemptions allowed in certain cases regarding language preferences or religious ethos.
However, many families are left unable to secure a seat on the bus for their children if places are not available at their nearest school. Those who are deemed ineligible are often left relying on the uncertain allocation of concessionary places.
For instance, the situation has become especially difficult in Clarinbridge, Co Galway.
At Presentation College in Athenry, Caroline O'Laochdha's son Rian is to begin first year, but will not be making the 13 km journey on a school bus.
As part of the School Transport Scheme, Ms O'Laochdha applied for a bus ticket before the May deadline.
However, in July, the family were told that due to the fact that they live closer to Calasanctius College in Oranmore, Rian was not eligible to qualify for a seat on a bus travelling to Athenry.
She said that the family did not apply to the Oranmore school, due to an oversubscription and its feeder-school admissions policy.
"So we're in a little bit of predicament at the moment. We've two younger kids that we've to drive to a country school in Killeeneen and then we have to bring them to Athenry.
"We’re both working full-time and we've also got the care of an elderly parent who's living with us full-time with dementia," she said.
According to Ms O'Laochdha, this growing uncertainty has put even more pressure on the family.
"We haven't retold our son yet, I think he thinks he's going on the bus, to be honest.
"We've kind of said there's a little bit of trouble with it and we'll find a way to get him there", she added. "It's stressful. I started a new job on Monday and one of the first discussions that I had with my line manager was, I've got a problem". (All quotes according to RTÉ Radio).
