The deadline is this week.
Parents who have children in primary and secondary school have only a few days left to sign up to save €500 on school transport for next year.
The Department of Education says that Bus Eireann’s family portal for new applications for school transport for the 2023/2024 academic year is set to close on Friday, 28 April.
This scheme is expected to benefit more than 121,000 students over the next year.
To be eligible to apply for this, your child must be aged between 4 and 12 years and living 3.2 km or more away from their school.
What is this scheme?
The Department of Education confirmed that fees will be scrapped for the 2023/24 school year under new cost of living measures and allows for thousands of families to save up to €500.
If applications are submitted after the deadline on Friday, they will be considered late and you may lose out on a seat.
The scheme was introduced by Minister Norma Foley in 2022/2023, saying: “It has been good to see a strong level of applications to date for school transport in the next school year.
“This year the fees for school transport have been capped at €50 for a primary school ticket and €75 at post primary, as a government response to the rising cost of living. As a result the maximum amount any family will pay on school transport for the school year is €125 a potential saving of up to €500.”
Who can avail?
Your child must be aged between 4 and 12 years and living 3.2 km or more away from their local school.
Students with additional needs are also eligible to and from their schools or classes.
If there are any spare seats remaining, those who are not eligible will be also included.
To be considered:
- Children attending junior infants in primary school for the first time in September 2023
- Children attending secondary school for the first time
- Children who have changed their home address or who are attending the new school during the upcoming academic year
How to apply
If you are enrolling your child for the first time in either primary or secondary school, you can apply through the Bus Eireann website.
Those from Ukraine who may also be applying should not do it through this portal, but should instead visit gov.ie/ukraine.
