Vol. 509 No. 3
7 Mr. Boylan asked the Minister for Education and Science if he has satisfied himself that all school buses, private and public, are up to road safety standard in view of the fact that some of the buses are over 20 years old; if he has further satisfied himself that there is proper heating and ventilation in all buses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19806/99]
Safety on school transport is of paramount importance to my Department and to Bus Éireann which operates the scheme on behalf of the Department. Bus Éireann has a very good safety record in the operation of school transport and an ongoing commitment to highlight safety in this regard.
Bus Éireann is responsible for the safe condition of the vehicles in use and has a wide range of checking procedures in place to ensure a safe and reliable service. All vehicles operating under the scheme meet rigid safety standards and, where vehicles have over eight adult seats and are more than one year old, they are required to pass the Department of the Environment and Local Government tests in regard to road worthiness.
Bus Éireann vehicles are serviced every six weeks under specified maintenance procedures to ensure that the highest safety standards are achieved. Any faults coming to the notice of Bus Éireann maintenance staff are dealt with immediately. A large proportion of the existing Bus Éireann school bus fleet was refurbished during summer 1999. All school transport vehicles operated by Bus Éireann and private contractors are subject to an annual road worthiness check and to regular inspection to ensure their reliability is maintained throughout the year. All buses are fitted with heating and demisting systems. The age profile of the Bus Éireann school bus fleet is being significantly improved due to the ongoing programme of introducing former service buses to school transport, replacing older vehicles.
Under the Government's strategy for road safety, the Department of the Environment and Local Government, in consultation with my Department, is committed to developing a strategy for safety on school transport. In this context, Bus Éireann has been requested to consider the wide range of safety issues associated with the operation of the school transport scheme. I assure the Deputy that the condition of the school bus fleet continues to be of the utmost concern to my Department and to Bus Éireann.
When will the regulations regarding dangerous overcrowding of school buses be reviewed? Is the Minister aware that at present three pupils can be allocated to every two seats, which means that legally there can be 82 pupils on a 55 seat bus? Does the Minister agree this is a very dangerous practice because there are no hand rails or safety equipment on buses? When will the regulations be reviewed and changed to ensure the safety of children?
They are currently being reviewed. As I said, under the Government strategy for road safety, the Department of the Environment and Local Government, in consultation with my Department, is committed to developing a revised and improved strategy for safety on school transport. Bus Éireann has been asked to consider a wide range of safety issues associated with the school transport scheme, including the issue of seat belts—
When will that happen?
—and to assess the operational and financial implications of the proposals.
When will it happen?
Hopefully we will get that back over the next number of months.
Is the Minister satisfied in relation to insurance cover for the cases described by Deputy McCormack? I am sure Deputy McCormack has been contacted by the institute which contacted me also. In the absence of seat belts on overcrowded buses, what is the position of insurance cover for the child? It is not unreasonable to ask when we might see changes that will eliminate dangerous overcrowding on buses.
I agree it is not unreasonable. The road traffic regulations issued by the Department of the Environment and Local Government govern the loading on school buses. Similarly, under the public service vehicle regulations the licensed carrying capacity of all vehicles engaged in school transport is based on the ratio of three pupils for every two adult seats. That has been the system for a long time. Under existing regulations, passenger seat belts are non-compulsory in buses, including those operating under the school transport scheme.
One cannot have three students in two seat belts
We are reviewing the regulations and we hope to have submissions from Bus Éireann in response to the request from the Department of the Environment and Local Government.
What about the insurance position?
The issue of safety is the responsibility of Bus Éireann.
Does the Minister believe that all special education school buses should have seat belts and harnesses and that they should be a basic requirement for buses? Escorts are another aspect of the safety issue. Will the Minister explain why escorts have not been employed on special education buses and when his Department will set down guidelines for the employment of escorts? At present, a convicted child abuser can take up one of these posts because there are no guidelines and the boards of management are afraid to make appointments.
I agree that every school bus which caters for children with special needs should have harnesses and seat belts
When will we have them?
I have provided the funding for it. The provision of escorts has been an issue for many years and I previously expressed the view that it was a scandal it was allowed to drag on for so long. For years all interested parties were call ing for funding for school bus escorts for children with special needs. In the last budget I secured that funding. For a number of months afterwards, we were in negotiations with the national association of boards of management of special schools and did not get agreement on how it would be administered. We sent the funding to every school in the country—
It was returned.
It was not.
In many cases it was returned.
In some cases it was. I spoke to the national body only last week during its annual general meeting. There is an obligation on all concerned to provide the escorts. It is an unusual situation where the Minister secures the funding and makes it available to the boards of management but some of them return the cheques. It is regrettable that happened. To a certain extent, we can overstate the difficulties here. It is interesting that the pilot project that was introduced two years ago in about 100 schools did not show up the difficulties that are now being put forward.
We must now move on to Question No. 8.
