Some of the families at the centre of the school bus confusion in the Kilmacrennan area are to receive tickets for their children's school bus runs, it has emerged.

The issue was highlighted earlier this week on local radio and in the pages of this newspaper. John Doherty, a widowed father of eight children, learned only on Monday that one of his sons would not have a ticket for the bus when the boy began secondary school on Tuesday.

"I contacted Bus Eireann again, and they told me the tickets were in the post," he said. "It was far from an ideal situation, but it seems the issue was sorted when so many people raised concerns."

It is understood that other families in the Kilmacrennan area have also been informed that they will receive tickets for their children’s bus travel.

The controversy arose over the weekend when parents learned that they were out of the catchment area for the Loreto Community School in Milford.

According to a spokesperson for the Department of Education and Science, primary-level children are eligible for school transport if they live 3.2 kilometres or more from the school in the catchment area in which they reside. At the post-primary level, children are eligible for transport if they live 4.8 kilometres or more from the school in the catchment area in which they reside.

The department spokesperson said families can apply for transport to a school outside their catchment area, but those applications can only be facilitated if there are spare seats on the bus after other eligible children living in the catchment are are accommodated.