School bus seat shortage: ‘It is very stressful – we are really anxious about it’

“It’s a complete mess,” says Nichola Moss, who is spending her summer holidays scrambling to find a way to get her three children to school.

For five years, they have used the school transport scheme but all have been refused a seat on the bus this year because of the surge in demand after the Government waived fees.

Cillian (18) is starting his Leaving Cert year at St Patrick’s Classical School, Navan, Co Meath, while Áine (16) and Aoife (13) are at St Michael’s Loreto, also in Navan.

They do not automatically qualify for the scheme, as these are not the closest schools to their home in Skryne – about 20km away – but have always successfully applied for “concessionary” school bus tickets.

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Along with 31 other children in Skryne, most of whom attend school in Navan, they have been told in recent days there is no place for them on the bus this year.

No public transport

With no public transport going through their area, civil servant Nichola faces a 80km round trip every day – in and out twice – just to get them to class. That or bring them to a busy junction on the M3 where “we hope” they can get on a public bus.

The 7.40am service would leave them in Navan with almost an hour to kill before the school gates open. The next service would be too late.

“On the M3 there is nowhere to pull in, there is no bus shelter for the children. It is a really, really busy junction – extremely dangerous,” says Nichola. “It is not safe at all for children.”

It would also mean, for the families in Skryne, 18 more cars on the road in the morning ferrying their children back and forth.

Then there are the extra costs. What was supposed to be a Government measure to help with the cost-of-living crisis could end up heaping even more financial burden on families.

The driving to school option would likely cost the Moss family about 10 times what they paid for the school bus, they estimate. Nichola says she will also have to consider working reduced hours, which eats further into their income.

Cillian has a half day on Wednesdays, while Áine and Aoife finish early on Fridays – meaning more journeys, more disruption to Nichola’s daily life.

‘School-related costs’

“We thought with the cost-of-living measures we would have more money to spend on books, shoes and all the other school-related costs, but it is fairly obvious this wasn’t planned properly,” she says. “It would have been easy to research the numbers in schools and assess the expected demand, especially in growth areas. It turns out this is the opposite of what the Government promised. It is only going to cost us more money.

“It is very stressful – we are really anxious about it.

“I have taken this week and next week off to try to find a solution. It is either the car or the public bus on the M3 this week, but I don’t know what I’ll do the week after that.

“I’ll have to rethink my employment. That is more costs, and less income. I don’t know what I am going to do. I am just hoping there is some intervention by the Minister [for Education Norma Foley].

“Local coach services have told us they have coaches and drivers available. There are 31 children in Skryne who would fill a bus. It is such a simple solution to such a difficult problem.

“But there has been nothing from the Minister. We wrote to her and all we got was a standard response that they are looking into issues. It would be nice to know where she stands on the issue, so we can plan our days.”