Parents in the Shannonside region are being urged not to leave school transport applications to the last minute.
Leitrim Councillor Brendan Barry says that Bus Eireann need to be given a clear indication of demand in order to get routes and coaches ready for the new school year.
While the local Sinn Fein Councillor believes significant changes are needed in the system to make it more workable in rural Ireland, he's calling on parents to make the process as simple as possible by applying well in time.
Transport charges have also been re-introduced for the next school year but will be capped for families at €125.
Bus Eireann has now opened their online school transport portal, with the deadline for new applications at the end of April and a payment deadline set for June 9th.
Councillor Barry is asking parents with children who no longer need school transport to remove them from the tickets, so that the spaces can be filled:
"The most important thing is to make sure that parents check the portal and make sure that if the child already has a ticket and is going to the same school and isn't a new applicant, they shouldn't have to reapply, or they don't have to reapply but I would advise parents to just check the portal and make sure that their child is on the system. If you have a child or teenager still on the system that maybe has finished school or that is no longer going, that parents would take that child off so that there isn't a ticket being issued and other children are missing out".
