Bus Éireann responds after furious Kildare parents are left without buses for school run

Bus Éireann have responded to enquires made by the Leinster Leader following the outrage of Kildare parents at the failure of certain services earlier this week. 

One Kildare parent contacted the Leinster Leader and explained that on Thursday, August 21, Bus Éireann sent an email saying that there was no school bus to Gael Choláiste, Naas due to lack of contractors and drivers, a situation that they hoped to resolve as soon as possible.

On Monday, August 25 a bus was present in Kildare town but was the driver was instructed that the service was only for certain students and that third year students were not allocated a seat on his service despite having a bus ticket. 

The parent who contacted the Leinster Leader voiced their displeasure at this by explaining that "if driving my child was on option I would already be doing this" and added "the lack of foresight and planning on behalf of Bus Éireann is an absolute disgrace."

Further adding, "There has been little or no thought given to the parents or the students and no alternative means of travel suggested or provided."

After being contacted by the Leinster Leader, Bus Éireann stated, "Please note that no services are cancelled and all tickets remain valid for travel. To accommodate increased demand on this route, two buses are required. While the first bus is in service, the second bus is still in the process of being sourced. As tickets are specific to a particular bus, some students are awaiting the commencement of their service, which means they cannot travel on the bus in operation.  

"As soon as a vehicle and driver has been sourced, and vehicle and driver compliance checks completed the families will be contacted directly in relation to the re-commencement of their service.

"Where a service is not in place for the start of a new school year – an interim grant is available. Families do not need to make an application; the Department of Education and Youth will be contacting families directly. The situation is evolving on a daily basis and our local school transport office is trying to prioritise sourcing replacement cover for these routes. 

"Bus Éireann operates the school transport scheme on behalf of the Department of Education and Youth. The purpose of the scheme is to provide transport for children living remotely from their nearest school. Bus Éireann has issued over 145,000 tickets to date to mainstream services for 2025/26 school year, an increase of just under 5% of tickets issued compared to last year. The scheme operates in excess of 8,200 vehicles daily on over 10,600 routes. The situation is evolving on a daily basis.

"The situation is evolving on a daily basis and our local school transport office is trying to prioritise sourcing replacement cover for these routes. The route in question was upgraded due to the increased demand and the contractor is working to source adequate vehicle capacity and our hope is that this will be resolved shortly. The local school transport team will continue to engage with the families involved and an update will be provided to families once school transport becomes available. 

"Bus Éireann has a dedicated call centre available at 0818 919 910 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm), or families can use the contact form on our website."

The issue remains unresolved at the time of writing.

Full details of the school transport scheme is available on the Department of Education and Youth’s website www.gov.ie/schooltransport.

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