As schools throughout the county return this week – it has been revealed that there have been extra tickets issued to Co. Wexford families this week for school bus places.
Despite this good news Sentaor Malcolm Byrne says 500 to 600 families are still left with no way for children to get to school.
Almost 113,000 tickets issued by close of business yesterday. 10,000 more than this time last year.
Ticket registration for the 2022/23 school year closed on 29 July by which time almost 130,000 applications/registrations were received for mainstream school transport. This figure includes 44,299 new applications as well as roll-overs from the previous school year. Already over 112,800 tickets for the 2022/2023 school year have been issued to applicants for the new school year.
Bus Éireann will continue to process applications and to issue tickets as soon as extra buses and drivers are sourced and become available to provide transport for the higher numbers qualifying for the service. However, regrettably the unprecedented numbers of new applications for the upcoming school year, has led to some delays in issuing tickets. Bus Éireann is continuing to work through remaining applications and families will be contacted as further information is available.
The normal eligibility criteria of the scheme still apply and tickets continue to be allocated in line with this criteria.
The Bus Éireann online account management system, known as the Family Portal, reopened on Thursday 25 August. Where applications have been processed, the reopening of the portal will enable account holders to check the status of their application.
Families that have already submitted a valid application prior to the 29th July and have not yet received an update, are advised not to amend or alter their existing application as creating new or duplicate applications risks losing the existing application place in the system.
While the re-opening of the portal also facilitates a late application process, it is very important for such families to note that the application deadline for 2022/23 was 29 April 2022, and that the deadline to confirm registration for tickets was 29 July 2022. Any application completed after this date is a ‘late application’ and therefore, many school transport services are already operating at full capacity. Late applications will only be assessed after all “on time” applications have been processed and there can be no guarantee of places for late applicants.
