School buses will be operating at full capacity when students go back to education in the coming weeks.

There is currently reduced capacity on all public transport to allow passengers observe social distancing; however, Bus Éireann has confirmed the same rules do not apply to school buses.

Children over the age of 13 will be required to wear a mask and students will sit in the same seat every day; however, the buses will be as full as they ever were.

There will also be rules regarding hand sanitisation and respiratory etiquette.

On Newstalk Breakfast, Maeve Fanning President of the National Parents Council Post Primary said the news came as a surprise this morning.

“The majority of parents I would have been discussion this with would have assumed there would be some sort of social distancing,” she said.

School bus

She said many school buses pick children up from different areas and drop them in a number of different schools.

“Kids are going to school on a bus that is servicing maybe three or four different schools,” she said. “Especially in the country areas, schools are picking up for a variety of schools in the area and then doing the drop-offs and pickups afterwards.

“There is no easy way to say it, there are going to be concerns out there, especially now that every day we have a slight increase in COVID numbers.”

The assigned seating plan would see siblings and children from the same classes sitting beside each other; however, Ms Fanning raised concerned over who will police the regulations.

“We are all relying on everyone to do what they are supposed to do and I suppose my worry would be, who is responsible for making sure the kids are actually sitting in their seats and wearing their masks?” She asked.

Parents

She said parents whose children are vulnerable to the virus will be especially concerned.

“Parents will want to know whether the health advice is certain that this is going to be safe for children,” she said.

“Also, what do parents do when their children have underlying conditions? Who really can’t be put into a situation like that day in and day out?

“Will there be any other service offered to them to get them to school in a safe manner?

“This is supposed to be something that is equal and fair for all children.”

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