Almost 1,200 children remain without bus transport to take them to school, more than six weeks into the new school term.
They include more than 100 children with special educational needs.
This is the first year that the current school bus transport system has faced such a large and lengthy shortfall in provision.
Acknowledging the problem, Minister for Education Norma Foley said she recognised the difficulty and challenge that this was causing for parents and families.
She expressed hope that "in the next week or two" as seasonal tourism contracts come to an end, availability may increase.
Ms Foley said there were "limited outstanding issues" that her department was continuing to work through with Bus Éireann and she said the driver and bus shortages were issues that were being experienced throughout the transport sector.
Teacher shortage
Addressing post-primary school principals in Galway this morning, the minister also acknowledged the "significant challenge" posed by the current teacher shortage.
There has been criticism from post-primary school principals of the length and cost of the two-year postgraduate PME qualification required of post primary teachers, which they feel is deterring potential teachers.
Budget 2024 has introduced a new €2,000 payment for all newly qualified teachers holding a Professional Masters in Education.
Ms Foley said further details of this payment would be outlined shortly and she said the measure was intended to defray the cost of obtaining the teacher qualification and to provide targeted support to graduates beginning their teaching careers.
Asked about the possibility of shortening the length of the postgraduate qualification, Ms Foley pointed to the growing demands on teachers and their need for a full training programme but she said her department was "open to looking at everything".
ICT grant
Schools have strongly criticised the fact that an ICT grant was not paid to schools this year.
The minister told the annual conference of the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals that the ICT grant for this current academic year would be paid to schools in 2024.
