Families who paid a fee for school transport in 2020/21 will receive a refund for the unused portion following the public health measure of closing schools to prevent the spread of Covid19. Bus Éireann operates the School Transport Scheme on behalf of the Department of Education & Skills, and is managing the refund process.

How much will I be refunded?
The amount of refund due is based on the number of standard school days missed, and the original fee paid. While schools did return on a staggered basis during March, the refund is based on the closure which had the most impact that is from 6 January until 26 March 2021. Therefore a refund rate of 31% will apply to all family account holders. Please remember that school transport fees are capped per family, and so too are the refunds.
Families availing of the medical card waiver scheme, who hadn’t yet paid the Part 2 element of the ticket in December 2020, or who had cancelled the ticket before 6 January 2021 are not due a refund as no fee contribution had been made for the period of school closure.


The refund due for each primary school student is €31, with the figure rising to €108.50 per post primary school student. From today, families will receive an email from Bus Éireann if they are eligible for a refund. The refund will be automatically made to the bank card used to make the payment, or by cheque if a card wasn’t used. Bus Éireann says refunds will be issued to all entitled family account holders starting from 30th June until mid-August.”

Further information is available from the Bus Éireann website.

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