Minister urged to act in school bus dispute

Education Minister Mary Hanafin has been urged to intervene in the school bus row in the northwest which is now in its fourth week.

Nine private bus operators yesterday refused to provide a service to a number of schools in Co Sligo and north Leitrim as their pay row with Bus Éireann continued.

Local Fine Gael TD John Perry urged the Minister to try to resolve the dispute which has seen hundreds of pupils stranded.

Mr Perry said the private operators were the "backbone" of the school transport service, especially given the shortage of places on school buses since the introduction of new safety regulations.

"There are 100 children in Co Sligo alone who still have not got seats on buses this year. This is a huge pressure, especially for exam students who have to make alternative arrangements."

He said Bus Éireann had been left "between a rock and hard place" by the department, who were ultimately responsible for the service. "The company are merely the facilitators or the agents of the department. The Minister has been standing back and has done nothing to try and end this. It's not good enough," said the Sligo/Leitrim TD.

Private operators in the two counties have disrupted services periodically since the beginning of the school year to highlight their claim for a 15 per cent increase in their contracts. The company has offered between 4 and 5 per cent, and has denied it has made no effort to negotiate.

Last week 18 private operators participated in the protest, but Bus Éireann said it had reached agreement with a number of them.

The private operators say they cannot afford to take a pay increase of 4 per cent given the soaring price of fuel and other costs such as insurance.