asked the Minister for Local Government what, if any, regulations and laws there are governing the number of persons which may be carried in public service vehicles of various sizes; if he is aware that the buses provided to transport children from the Finglas area to other Dublin schools, pending the provision of national schools at Finglas, are grossly overcrowded; and whether he will take steps to prevent a continuance of such overcrowding.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Overcrowding of School Buses.
13.
Section 121 of the Road Traffic Act, 1933, provides for the limitation of the number of passengers which may be carried on a public service vehicle. The method of calculating passenger accommodation in large public service vehicles is set out in Regulations which provide that the number of passengers is limited to the number of adults for whom seats are provided. Where three or more children are carried, however, the permitted passenger accommodation is increased by one for every three of such children. In other words every three children may be counted as two adults. Up to five additional passengers may be carried in peak traffic periods or in circumstances of hardship.
As regards the second part of the Deputy's question, I am not aware that the position is as he suggests.
Enforcement of the law is a matterfor the Gardaí.