Seanad Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 2 Dec 1998

Vol. 157 No. 10

Adjournment Matters. - School Transport.

Mr. Norris

It is a pleasure to welcome the Minister. I know he is a fine and caring Minister and has a very positive response to life. I remember when we shared a platform on "Questions and Answers" in his home city of Cork there was intelligent agreement between us as he recognised that I am not partisan but rather part of the glorious tradition of total political independence. Tonight I offer the Minister an opportunity to avoid a really terrible situation. We are often told of the dangers of hindsight and how it is easy to see everything with 20:20 vision when a disaster happens. I offer the Minister an opportunity to avoid such a tragedy, not as a result of any great personal prescience of mine but because I was contacted by a caring mother who is concerned about her five year old son.

The matter concerns the problem of buses for special schools and the apparent discrepancy in the regulations between CIE buses and buses hired by CIE to cater for special schools. CIE buses are governed by various by-laws and are required to have safety belts. According to my information this appears much more haphazard in the case of buses hired by CIE. It is possible that a real tragedy might happen where there are no rules to cover a situation or where the rules are not enforced and monitored.

The special nature of these children, who may have a physical, mental or emotional handicap, makes them particularly vulnerable when being transported. For example, there was a tragedy on the N11 last September when the driver of a special school bus and two helpers were killed. Mercifully I think none of the children was killed and I am not sure any of them were terribly seriously injured. It was miraculous that some were not seriously injured.

Mr. Martin

Five were killed in that accident.

Mr. Norris

I did not realise that. My understanding was that the only people killed were the driver and two helpers. I very much regret that the accident was worse than my recollection. I understand the reason there was not such a high level of injury was because seat belts were in use by at least some of the children. This is not the case with all such buses.

According to the direct evidence from the mother of the five year old the issue of seat belts and harnesses is dealt with on a completely ad hoc basis. Although CIE hires buses for special schools, harnessing and insurance on school runs is left to the individual initiative of bus drivers. The situation is very nebulous. My correspondent has described it as a sort of Celtic mist upon the bog and says that when the inevitable tragedy happens, all will run for cover. As with many of our previous tribunals, much money will be spent but nobody, miraculously, will be held to blame. Nothing will be heard but the rustling sound of the buck being passed.

This haunts me. James Joyce wrote a wonderful story entitled "A painful case" in which a woman is killed in an accident on the railway at Sydney Parade station. She became a drunkard as a result of a romantic disappointment. The end of inquest report says "nobody it seems was to blame". We need to avoid this.

The mother of the five year old child, whom I believe has Down's syndrome, has seen him struggling around in the bus unrestrained, half naked and trying to climb out the window. This is terribly dangerous. Many of these buses do not have helpers to assist the drivers who are left on their own and this adds to the danger.

In summary there is no mandatory minimum harnessing standard for special school buses. I think there should be such a requirement. There is no mandatory level of in-transit supervision, an issue which should also be addressed. There was a major motorway accident in Britain which led to the issue of harnessing for all school buses being addressed by the British Parliament. I hope the Minister will tell the House that a tragedy of this magnitude will not be necessary before we act.

My correspondent suggests that this is an accident waiting to happen, to use a cliché. As she says, the only blank space needed on this pre-tragedy report will be the location, and she suggests a number of locations, such as the M50 roundabout, the Walkinstown Cross or the Dublin-Belfast road. The only things missing are the names of those who could be maimed or injured. It is clear that this Minister is on top of his brief, in tune with the needs of young people and sympathetic to the needs of special children. We have the capacity now to act before there is a tragedy, and I look forward to the Minister informing the House that he has plans in this regard.

Minister for Education and Science (Mr. Martin)

I thank Senator Norris for raising this issue. I have some good news. The Senator's motion referred to seat belts generally, but the Senator's contribution referred specifically to the present position regarding the provision of harnesses and escorts on buses for special needs children.

I agree entirely with Senator Norris. It is an appalling state of affairs that we do not have escorts on special school buses. There was a pilot scheme two or three years ago which employed approximately 100 escorts which was clearly inadequate. We have situations all over the country where the bus drivers on his or her own with up to 15 children with special needs, such as epilepsy or other behavioural problems, on the bus. As Senator Norris said, the children can climb halfway out the window in some instances. It is entirely unsatisfactory.

I do not want to engage in passing the buck. I have a responsibility and I am not prepared to stand over this situation. The special education section of my Department and I ascertained the need and the cost of dealing comprehensively with this issue. The estimates of the special education section were that £1.7 million would be required to ensure that buses on every school route involving children with special needs would have an escort and harnesses. I am glad that that £1.7 million was in today's budget package on social inclusion. From now on we will be providing the necessary escorts and harnesses for all those schools. It is not before time.

The system has worked until now by giving grants to schools to employ escorts, and we will increase the rates for escorts. Harnesses will be fitted as well; they do not cost that much. It escapes me how this was allowed to go on over the years; it is a scandalous situation we cannot stand over. If that does not meet the requirements we will provide the resources to meet those requirements. Those children are entitled to travel in safety. I was at the funerals of the five people killed in the Arklow crash, and it was a harrowing experience. The irony of ironies is that the escort was killed and that there were harnesses. However, it focused minds on all the buses that did not have escorts or harnesses.

Regarding overall safety, Bus Éireann's record is superb, though one does not like to boast about good safety records as one never knows when terrible tragedies will happen. When routes are examined for suitability for various types of vehicles, all the safety procedures, such as safe set down, turning and pick up points are checked out and selected carefully. Road conditions, traffic hazards and all other aspects of safety are considered. All school transport vehicles operated by Bus Éireann and private contractors meet all the statutory obligations set down by the Department of the Environment and Local Government and are subject to annual roadworthiness checks. The Minister for the Environment and Local Government is conducting a review with my Department that will have implications for certain practices such as having three children for two seats. There will have to be a further tightening of safety regulations because there are now more people on the road, and the net result is that there is more death and carnage on the road. Children in buses are at risk because of the increased number of accidents on main roads.

I assure Senator Norris that we are not taking this issue lightly or complacently. This initiative was not mentioned in my script because we were ahead of the Department scriptwriters.

Mr. Norris

It is on the record now and that is excellent. I thank the Minister. This is very good news for the lady who contacted me. The Minister has done an excellent day's work; he was obviously aware of the situation before we drew it to his attention. He has justified my confidence and by applying political pressure to get this money allocated, he has saved lives in a particularly vulnerable sector of the community. I thank him for that.