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Bus Éireann said that only 20% of its high school bus services are operating at the recommended capacity of 50% when students return to school.
The operator, which carries out the School Transportation Plan on behalf of the Department of Education, said it is currently reviewing the 2,100 post-primary routes it operates to try to meet the new requirements.
But it is understood that it could take up to three months before all the routes serving secondary schools can operate at 50% capacity.
Bus Éireann has started a campaign to hire additional buses and taxis to try to increase the number of vehicles on these routes so that they can comply with the Covid-19 guidelines for school transport.
An ad, which appeared in the newspapers this week, said that the company is looking for large, medium and small bus and taxi operators to provide this service and that the application deadline is Monday.
It says that all applicants will have to be screened by the Garda and their vehicles must be equipped with seat belts and be under 20 years old.
Bus Éireann transports nearly 120,000 students to and from school each year, 68,000 of them are secondary school students, 38,000 are primary school students and more than 14,000 are students with special educational needs.
It has been operating the School Transportation scheme on behalf of the Department of Education since 1967.
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