Sir, - The near-tragedy at Chapelizod last week should jolt all of us into ensuring that the next serious accident involving a private coach does not result in multiple deaths. Thanks to the skill of that driver and the fact that the coach was in such good mechanical order, all the children on board the bus survived a very serious accident.
But one has only to look at many of the private coaches on our roads to realise that Ireland has become a dumping ground for buses that are no longer acceptable on UK roads. Thanks to the current registration system, we can immediately tell the year of first registration and too many coaches have numbers commencing "7" or even "6" - coaches from the 1970s and in some cases 1960s. Inevitably, these coaches operate at the lower end of the market and of course, with the scare funds available to most schools, when a coach is required for a school tour or outing, one rarely sees a top-notch coach in the school grounds. In fact, one has only to stand on Earlsfort Terrace when your own "Music in the Classroom" series is taking place in the National Concert Hall to see the truth of this statement. So what can we do?
The Government has already made it clear that it has no plan to implement the EU directive that will improve safety on private coaches. As far as the Government is concerned, three children to a seat and no seat belts will continue to be the order of the day. So much for its concern! There doesn't even appear to be a standard test such coaches must undergo to ensure their roadworthiness. So it is left to parents through their parents' associations and the National Parents Council to make clear what we will and will not accept as safe transport for our children.
Or will we wait until the headlines declare the number of deaths and then wonder what we could have done? - Yours, etc.,
Templeroan Park, Dublin 16.