'It's just so frustrating' - parent

Local families are once again facing a school transport nightmare just weeks before the new school year begins, after children who have travelled on buses for years were refused concessionary places.

For parents in rural areas, the problem is becoming an all-too-familiar source of frustration.

Mum-of-two Amanda McEntee, from Clonkieffy, Castlerahan, on the outskirts of Ballyjamesduff, applied for concessionary places for both of her sons this year. Her eldest is entering fifth year at St Oliver PP in Oldcastle and has used school transport since primary school. Her younger son is due to start first year there.

But despite applying and paying for their tickets in May before the deadline, Amanda has now been told that neither child will now be accommodated.

‘Frustrating’

The McEntee’s nearest school is in Oldcastle, and their home is located around 100 metres inside the minimum 4.8km distance limit to guarantee a seat.

“It’s just so frustrating,” she told the Celt, explaining that several other families in the rural area who previously relied on the same Bus Éireann service are facing the same predicament.

The Celt understands the situation appears to have arisen after a minibus replaced a full-size bus on the route, dramatically reducing the number of available seats.

There is no realistic alternative for children in the area.

“It’s just not possible for them to walk along that busy road,” Amanda said.

Elsewhere, some families on ‘concessionary’ status who chose not to send their children to their nearest school find themselves in a similar predicament as September 1 approaches with no seats on the bus.

And for working parents, simply collecting children from school is not necessarily an everyday option.

“You can’t just ring an employer and say, ‘I have to leave to collect my children’,” Amanda said.

Carpooling, meanwhile, is far from a straightforward solution. Amanda said the arrangements can quickly fall apart when a child is sick, a parent is unavailable or other family commitments arise.

Amanda estimates that at least seven families in the surrounding area have been impacted.

She can’t follow the logic in how the seats are allocated. “What I don’t understand is that there are three or four children who have been put off the bus who have been on it all the time.”

‘Every year’ problem

Amanda’s concerns have been echoed by Sinn Féin Senator Pauline Tully, who says the latest difficulties are further evidence that the current school transport system is failing rural families.

The concerns come despite the publication of the School Transport 2030 review in 2024, which identified problems with the existing scheme and proposed a range of measures, including changes to minimum-distance requirements and increased capacity.

To date, those changes have not been implemented.

Senator Tully, a Cavan-Monaghan Oireachtas member, said parents face the same uncertainty every year.

“Every year, when it comes to August, people are being refused bus tickets, often in situations where they’ve had bus tickets for several years beforehand, and suddenly there’s no room on the bus,” she said.

She said families in the Castlerahan area had contacted her about children attending St Oliver’s Post-Primary School.

The replacement of a full-size bus with a minibus is a particular concern.

After speaking with Bus Éireann’s regional director, Senator Tully has since written to the Department of Education seeking a larger vehicle capable of accommodating all of the affected children.

Growing demand

The row comes as demand for school transport surges nationally.

According to the Department of Education, the number of children and young people using the school transport service has risen from fewer than 120,000 in 2018 to more than 181,000 - an increase of almost 50%.

For the 2025/26 school year, official figures showed that 1,137 post-primary pupils and 385 primary pupils did not receive tickets.

That included applications made on time where there was no capacity on an existing service.

Concessionary seats are offered to children who do not qualify for school transport after all eligible pupils have been accommodated. Where demand exceeds available capacity, tickets are allocated through a selection process, according to the Department.

For the 2026/27 school year, more than 102,000 school transport tickets had been issued nationally by July 24, around 5,000 more than at the same point the previous year.

The Coach Tourism & Transport Council has meanwhile warned that maintaining the financial viability of commercial operators is vital as demand continues to grow.

But for Amanda and other parents in Castlerahan and on other impacted routes acoss Cavan and Monaghan, national figures offer little reassurance as September rapidly approaches, and they are now hoping a solution can be found before their children are due back in the classroom.

Both Bus Éireann and the Department of Education have been contacted for comment.