I was recently appointed assistant principal officer in the Department and given responsibility for school transport. I am accompanied by Mr. Hughes, principal officer, and Mr. Hogan, assistant principal officer, from the school transport section in Tullamore. We are glad to have been given this opportunity to update the committee on recent developments in this important area and associated issues.
I will give members some background information. The school transport scheme was established in 1967. At second level it effectively formed part of a series of measures intended to facilitate the introduction of a free post-primary education service. It has been one of our successes and instrumental in facilitating access to education by a large number of children over generations, including myself, as I availed of the service when I went to school.
Since the service was introduced, its usage has greatly increased, in tandem with the increase in the number of students attending primary and post-primary schools. Eligibility is based on distance criteria. One has to live 3.2 km from the nearest primary school or 4.8 km from the nearest post-primary school. I wish to emphasise before I go into more detail that Bus Éireann has overall responsibility for the day-to-day operation of the service. It acts on behalf of the Department; plans routes; employs school bus drivers; arranges for the contracting out of services, as appropriate; ensures compliance with legal requirements and implementation of safety regulations.
School transport provision is a very large and labour intensive logistical operation. Vehicles cover 46 million miles each school year. We cater for in excess of 135,000 children, including approximately 8,000 with special needs. Safety is of paramount importance to the Department. In terms of international comparisons, the safety record of the school bus service in Ireland is good but we are certainly not complacent. We must have regard for the number of quite serious accidents which have taken place over the years, including recent accidents which involved fatalities. These must focus our attention primarily on the safety issues and that is what we have been doing over the past several years.
In May 2005, just weeks prior to the tragic accident in Meath, the Department and Bus Éireann had commenced a safety initiative in preparation for the implementation of the EU Directive which required safety belts to be used in buses, where fitted, from May 2006. We had two new demonstrator school buses fitted with seat belts and these had been tested over a two-week period in counties Meath and Kildare.
From the point of view of the Department, the exercise served as a good test in identifying the potential issues that would arise, testing the reaction of pupils to the wearing of seat belts and the type and size of belt fitted. At that time also, the Department had been working on proposals for phasing out the infamous three-for-two arrangement, which had been a feature of the system for a long number of years. As the committee will be aware, this arrangement permitted the maximum loading on a school bus to be increased at a ratio of three students to two adults and was originally introduced as a method of maximising capacity on the school transport services.
Following the unfortunate accident in Meath, the Government set up a working group, which included representatives from the Departments of Education and Science, Transport and Finance to advance measures to ensure the enhancement of school bus safety. Bus Éireann attended, as required by the group. In July 2005, the Minister, Deputy Hanafin and Minister of State, Deputy de Valera announced a package of measures to enhance the safety of school transport operations. The measures included the phasing out of the three-for-two arrangement on post-primary services by the end of December 2005; the phasing out of the three-for-two seating on primary services by the end of December 2006; the acquisition of additional buses by Bus Éireann; the hiring of additional private vehicles to meet the consequential capacity shortfall, which would obviously undoubtedly arise as a result of the termination of the three for two arrangement; and the fitting of seat belts on the Bus Éireann school fleet and the setting of a target date of December 2006 for private buses in the scheme to be fitted with seat belts.
The feasibility of retrofitting safety belts in existing school buses was considered by the working group to which I referred earlier. This group consulted with national experts in a number of EU countries as well as with the European Commission in advance. The view was taken that any specification would need to be as consistent as practicable with the EU standards for new vehicles.
In general terms, those standards provide for the fitting of three-point belts in exposed seats, which are generally seats to the front and back of school buses, and either three-point or lap belts in other seats. On the basis of observed international practice in this area and on the basis of the EU standards the working group was of the view that lap belts, with associated safety measures, were the most appropriate for installation in retrofitting school buses. The associated safety measures include, for instance, the use of energy-absorbing material on the tops and backs of seats. This view of the working group informed the Government decision that all vehicles used in the school transport scheme should be equipped with safety belts by December of this year.
Having installed seat belts on school buses, it is essential that children wear them at all times and that their behaviour is appropriate and has regard to the inherent risks associated with travelling on, or in the vicinity of, school buses — undoubtedly there are risks inherent in that activity in any event. We would see education in that context as an important means of achieving compliance and we are making arrangements for a major information campaign for the general public and all school transport users. We intend that the campaign will be launched to coincide with the commencement of the next school year. The Department is very much of the view that schools, parents and Bus Éireann can work effectively together to develop and reinforce good safety practices on school buses.
In May last, the Minister for Transport made regulations giving effect to the EU directive relating to the compulsory wearing of safety belts in motor vehicles. Basically, those regulations provide that safety belts must be worn once they are fitted. The regulations also oblige owners of buses fitted with safety belts to ensure that passengers are informed of the requirement to wear safety belts while they are seated and while the bus is in motion. This obligation may be discharged by an announcement by the driver or conductor, by audio visual means or by signs or pictograms displayed at each seat. The provision of seat belts on school buses represents a major safety improvement in an already very safe service.
I will now provide a more detailed update for members of the committee on the roll-out of the various measures announced in July last. First, more than 220 vehicles have been hired from the private sector to address a capacity shortfall arising from the phasing out of the three for two seating arrangement on school buses at post-primary level. In addition, Bus Éireann has purchased 51 coaches and arrangements for the acquisition of an additional 30 vehicles are in hand. The company has also placed orders for the acquisition of 20 new dedicated school buses. I should explain that the coaches I mentioned previously are four to five years old and are in of extremely good quality. A number of the vehicles have already been received and it is expected that the balance will be delivered later this year.
At this stage, all of the 2,500 post-primary services are on a one-for-one seating basis. This is a major advance in a short period of time, considering the logistical operation involved, the amount of buses involved and the requirement for safety to be uppermost in everyone's mind. Bus Éireann has commenced retrofitting seat belts on its own school bus fleet and work is progressing well. The contractor for the work has developed specifications for each vehicle type in the company's fleet. I emphasise that we keep in constant contact with Bus Éireann in this regard. I have been working in this area for less than two weeks and I have already met with Bus Éireann and have already a further meeting arranged with the company for early next week. It has informed us that 375 of its fleet of about 650 school buses have already been retrofitted with seat belts and further assures us that it remains on target to have this work comfortably completed by August of this year.
Bus Éireann also inform us that there are about 2,700 private contractors' vehicles, including taxis and larger vehicles on stand by, in the school transport scheme, and that over 80% of these are already fitted with seat belts. The standard to which belts on contractors' vehicles have been fitted will need to be inspected by Bus Éireann and it is making arrangements with an external agency on a contract basis. The representative organisations for the private contractors have also been advised of the Department of Transport requirements for retrofitting.
As part of our commitment to safety, a pilot project involving a warning flashing lights system on 22 school buses was commenced in Ennis in January 2005. This system reduces the risk of accidents in the vicinity of the school bus as pupils descend. International research has shown clearly that the biggest danger on an ongoing basis for children is when they alight from or get on to a school bus. We obviously concentrate on overall safety, but there is a specific and inherent risk in alighting from and in the vicinity of school buses and that is an issue of concern to us.
The evaluation of the pilot scheme has been encouraging and we are currently investigating the possibility of extending it to a number of other areas. That would enable more extensive tests to be carried out on the effectiveness of this initiative. Based on the outcome of those tests, a decision will be taken on the extension of the scheme to the remaining parts of the country. Again, safety is the uppermost issue. This clearly is showing all the signs of being a major safety initiative and I think we would accept that it would be extended.
I understand that at a previous meeting the committee raised questions about increasing levels of expenditure on school transport. The overall expenditure stands at €152 million. A large part of this clearly must go on new services, improvements in the quality of services and alterations to existing services. Approximately 6% of all children carried are special needs children and we estimate that 33% of the allocation or €50 million is expended in this area. The cost of facilities for special needs children can be expensive because, in many cases, special transport, such as minibuses, wheelchair-adapted vehicles and taxis, must be provided. More than 600 additional services have been introduced since 1998 and almost 400 of these were minibus and taxi services, which were mainly for children with special needs.
The total number of vehicles in the school transport fleet is approximately 3,200. In relatively recent times, taxis were introduced as a new category of school transport and now more than 280 are in service. These are particularly expensive because a limited number of children can be accommodated but the runs must be paid for. Taxi services are primarily for special needs children, for whom transport by car is often the most appropriate option. The number of minibuses in service has increased by more than 150 and medium buses increased by more than 270. A further enhancement has been the funding provided to schools for escorts to accompany children with special needs. More than 600 escorts are employed at a cost in excess of €6.5 million per annum.
The Department considers that expenditure in this area is highly and fully appropriate, fully justified and in line with our obligation to ensure all children in the State derive maximum benefit from public education. The Department makes no apology for this expenditure. Other factors contributing to the increase in expenditure include the greater demand for improved services, which is a constant theme — I am sure members receive representations about this on a regular basis from constituents; more buses to facilitate shorter travel time — parents do not like their children to be unduly absent from school for prolonged periods; separate services instead of combined services and more modem and more specialised school buses.
Educational diversity has also emerged as a significant factor leading to increased costs. Traditionally, children attended their nearest primary school but, nowadays, parents expect greater choice in educational provision, particularly at primary level. Many parents exercise this choice by sending their children to schools such as gaelscoileanna, multi-denominational schools and denominational schools. Depending on the circumstances, this may require the establishment of new services for eligible children or the payment of a grant to the parent to assist with the cost of making private transport arrangements. Another factor is the retention of school transport services in rural areas, even where numbers fall below the threshold for establishing a service. We generally keep the service running, if possible, and that is an additional cost. For example, a school transport service is normally established if there are seven pupils residing in a distinct locality. Operational costs will become a factor, particularly the cost of fuel. We anticipate these costs will continue to exert upward pressure on school transport expenditure for the foreseeable future.
I also understand that members previously raised questions about catchment boundary transport. Post-primary pupils who are eligible for school transport to the post-primary centre in their own catchment area may choose to attend a post-primary centre in a different catchment area to the one in which they reside. In such instances, the pupils use school transport services on the basis of the availability of spare seats after all eligible pupils have been accommodated. We try as accommodate as many as possible catchment boundary pupils but it is not possible in all cases to provide 100% accommodation. Catchment boundary pupils are not guaranteed school transport for every year of their schooling. Transport depends on the availability of seats. Catchment boundary pupils are required to pay the same contributions as eligible post-primary pupils to avail of school transport.
In the case of primary and post-primary pupils who are not eligible for school transport on the basis of the distance requirements, transport is offered on a concessionary fare paying basis. The charge is €26 per term for primary pupils and €51 per school term for post-primary pupils. This amounts to €78 per annum for primary pupils compared with the child fare on a Dublin Bus of 50 cent, which equates to €92 per annum. This represents only a small portion of the total cost of providing the transport and the charge has not been increased since 1998.
My colleagues and I are happy to provide information during the question and answer session.
