A delay in allocating concessionary tickets for school transport needs to be urgently addressed by the Department of Education.
That's according to Cork East TD Seán Sherlock.
Bus Éireann operates the School Transport Scheme on behalf of the Department.
The Scheme gives a bus seat to primary school children travelling to their nearest or second-nearest school once the school is more than 3.2km away.
Secondary school pupils are eligible for the scheme if they are living more than 4.8km away from their school.
If extra seats are available, concessionary tickets are allocated to those who do not meet these criteria.
Availability fluctuates on routes every year.
Speaking to RedFM News, Deputy Sherlock says that families are stressed because they don't know if their children have school bus places for this school year:
"The school year has started but yet concessionary tickets have not been issued to people to people so many families are quite understandably anguished by this. They're not sure whether or not their children will have tickets for the coming school year. We're calling on Bus Eireann to be given a greater allocation of resources by the Department of Education to manage this scheme, so that the tickets can be issued, and that they can be issued straightaway so the families can have some peace of mind if concessionary tickets have been granted, that those tickets will be allocated as a matter of urgency."
