A shortage of drivers at Bus Éireann is preventing some children with special needs from being able to attend school on a daily basis, more than a month into the new school year.
The principal at one school in west Dublin says 10% of her 75 students have had their education disrupted since the start of term.
Many of the pupils there travel from surrounding counties to avail of the services provided at Scoil Mochua, which is affiliated with the CRC.
Among them is Tadhg Kehoe who lives in Newbridge in Co Kildare. The 15-year-old, who has physical and intellectual disabilities and is non-verbal, had always availed of a bus service to the school, until the route was withdrawn with just a day's notice, two weeks ago.
His father Greg now makes the 80-kilometre round trip, twice a day, to take him to and from school when he can.
However, he needs to be back in Kildare each day, for another school pick-up for their youngest child, so this is not sustainable for the family in the long-term.
His mother Amanda Kehoe, works full time and says the suspension of the service, which they have been told is for the foreseeable future, is impacting on the whole family.
"Tadhg relies on school. It's his outlet. It's where he goes every day. He doesn't have after-school activities or friends calling at the door. This is his social interaction with people and also where he gets his intellectual stimulation on a daily basis. It's so much to him and just to have that taken away so abruptly, it was awful, and for his routine as well."
She says he is also missing out on physiotherapy, help with his walking practice and other services available on site.
The principal at the school, Sophia Casey, says that whilst students like Tadhg have been able to make it in for a few hours of the school day, some of the time, others including a 4-year-old girl called Emma, have hardly been able to go at all.
Emma, who lives with her family in Co Meath, had been looking forward to starting at the school in early September and had been preparing for her new routine.
"She's in one of our pre-school classes, but unfortunately because of how far away she lives and the family situation, they are not able to bring her to school, as there are other children in the house, so they have to make a choice between which children can get to school."
Her mother says that the little girl has been badly impacted, particularly by seeing her other siblings leave for school and pre-school each day, whilst she is stuck at home, feeling left out.
Other parents who are self-employed have been missing out on work to stay at home with their children or spending many hours each day bringing them to and from school.
"We have a large number of children who are on reduced days as parents are trying to fit this around their own working schedules and their other children's schedules, as well as some children who have not attended since the first day of school," she explains.
"Some of our parents don't drive as they need specialised vehicles to fit the motorised wheelchairs, and equipment on, so they are unable to drop their child to school."
She says the disruption has impacted on the children's routine and their wellbeing. "It's just after the summer, so some of them have been off for three months already, so I think families are feeling it and the children themselves are feeling it," she explains.
Amanda Kehoe says she is particularly upset by the lack of communication from Bus Éireann over the issue: "It was very sudden when we found out and it was the day before, which for my son, he needs routine and it's very difficult then to try and change everything, when they suddenly tell you for the foreseeable future, that you'll have no bus available."
She has now been told that the route has gone out to tender, which could take weeks or longer. She said whilst she had been told about an interim grant to help with transport costs, it was not about that, but about accessibility to education for her son.
Bus Éireann, which operates the school transport scheme on behalf of the Department of Education says that there has been a 7% increase in tickets issued for mainstream bus services this year, when compared to the same time last year. It also expects to transport over 19,000 children with Special Educational needs to school this year.
It says it received a number of new applications for school transport from pupils attending the CRC School in Clondalkin, and that unfortunately, difficulties had arisen in some specific locations with a small number of these contracted services.
In a statement it said: "This is against a backdrop of driver shortages being experienced in many sectors of the economy throughout the country."
Bus Éireann says it is engaging with families where transport was sanctioned and where there may be delays in securing a service.
It said that where a new service has to be established, there is a lead-in period for this, including issues such as route design and procurement.
The Department of Education said the school bus services were not cancelled, and that the Bus Éireann School Transport team was working intensively to ensure that transport arrangements are put in place as soon as possible.
It said the School Transport Scheme was a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department and that Bus Éireann is obliged under national and EU procurement legislation to tender approximately 95% of services provided by contractors under scheme.
It said particular issues had arisen, where, in a number of cases transport was sourced and tickets issued in good faith, only for the contracts to be handed back at short notice. In some areas there had been no bids for the contracts.
The Department said it would provide an interim "Special Transport Grant" to assist the affected families with the cost of private transport arrangements, until their service begins.
Information about this can be found at gov.ie/school transport whilst a dedicated customer care call centre to assist families with School Transport queries has been set up on LoCall 0818 919 910, which is open from 9am- 5pm Monday to Friday.
