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.