6,000 school children are still waiting to hear if they will get a place on a school bus this year.
The Education Minister appeared before the Oireachtas Education committee this morning to answer questions on the free travel scheme which descended into chaos this summer.
124,000 out of 130,000 students have had tickets issued by Bus Éireann, and Norma Foley says a review of the scheme and its failings will take place before the end of the year.
Last week, a group of up to 25 students from four areas across North Cork who were on their way to secondary schools in Mitchelstown were removed from the school bus as they did not have valid concessionary tickets
In a statement, Bus Éireann said there was an unprecedented demand for the school transport scheme this year and added that to date more than 15,200 tickets have been issued in Cork, an increase of 6% on last year's figures.
The statement adds that for safety reasons, only students with a valid ticket are permitted to travel on school transport services.
