Bus Éireann criticised over broken promises on Gowran school buses

A parents’ group in Gowran says it’s facing ‘administrative stonewalling’ over ongoing school transport issues.

Chairperson Brendan Hayes claims Bus Éireann has failed to follow through on commitments, leaving families without reliable bus services.

Despite repeated efforts to engage, including a recent apology and promise of talks, the group says communication has again broken down.

Mr Hayes warns the situation is now having a serious impact on children’s wellbeing as outlined to Brian Redmond on The KCLR Daily

A spokesperson from Bus Éireann told KCLR News: Bus Éireann operates the school transport scheme on behalf of the Department of Education and Youth. It is a significant operation providing transport for over 180k pupil daily to and from schools nationwide. This includes the provision of transport for over 24,000 children with additional needs.

As part of the roll out of the recommendation of the departments Review of the School Transport Scheme, a funding allocation was approved to pilot a service between Gowran and Kilkenny. Despite engaging in a number of procurement competitions, Bus Éireann, as advised previously, has been unable to secure a Contractor vehicle and Driver to operate this service, to date.

Bus Éireann is obliged to ensure that it complies with procurement guidelines when securing services to ensure fair and transparent competition and to deliver the best value for money for the Department of Education and Youth. It is particularly challenging to secure vehicle and driver cover in this area and we would like to advise parents that significant efforts have been made to secure a resource to operate this route to date.

Bus Éireann already provides transport for 110 children travelling between Gowran and Kilkenny on a daily basis as part of the school transport scheme . We would like to re- assure parents that efforts are continuing ,through our procurement process to secure a vehicle and driver to operate this route. This is required to cater for the pupils who are part of this pilot for the current school year and our Senior School Transport Manager has been in contract with a representative from this group in relation to this issue.

The role of Bus Éireann is to ensure that it provides school transport services in line with the guidelines governing the scheme, as determined by the Department of Education and Youth. Funding for pilot services is subject to annual approval from the Department of Education and Youth.