'Lack of urgency' on bus safety denied

It may be possible to retrospectively fit seat-belts in some vehicles already in use in the school bus fleet, the Dáil was told.

Minister of State for Education Síle de Valera said it was not a simple matter because a number of different types of seat-belts were involved.

However, "I have been told there may be some buses already in the fleet that can be retro-fitted with seat-belts".

In the wake of the school bus tragedy in Meath last month, the Minister had previously been advised against fitting seat-belts retrospectively because it was more dangerous than when they were fitted during the manufacture of the bus.

During education questions yesterday, Ms de Valera said experts believed "retrofitting must be done in a specialised way so as to ensure that any adaptation would be completely safe".

She added that "it will be for the experts to advise us on the type of seat-belts that would be most applicable in terms of safety on these buses".

The Minister, who has responsibility for school transport, also rejected claims of a lack in urgency by the department to act on ensuring seat-belts were fitted in all school buses.

Fine Gael's spokeswoman Olwyn Enright said Ms de Valera had overseen an ongoing review of school transport for over a year, separate to the review of the Co Meath accident.

She asked when it would be published and if it would take into account concerns over the "three-for-two" arrangement where three children share two adult seats on school buses.

The Laois Offaly TD added a significant number of private buses under contract to the State were equipped with seat- belts.

"It is the buses provided by the State's Bus Éireann fleet which are not so equipped."

Labour spokeswoman Jan O'Sullivan did not detect any evidence in the Minister's reply "that anything has changed in the department since the school bus crash in Meath".

A "sense of urgency, plan and timescale for implementation" were needed.

Mr O'Sullivan said a discussion document in 2002 addressed many of the issues now under discussion.

"Isn't there enough information in the department to allow work to commence on the oldest, least safe buses and speed up the phasing out of three-for-two seating arrangements?

" The answer was no before the Meath crash, which indicates a need for greater urgency."

But Ms de Valera insisted there was a "sense of urgency" and that the three-for-two arrangements had been under discussion for some time.

"We are able to say they will be completely abolished within two to three years," the Minister added.

"The deputy can rest assured that if we can, we will do it sooner than that."