I am here in the absence of the Minister for Education and Science. The Senator will be aware that the mother of the Minister of State, Deputy de Valera, has died. Her funeral is today.
I thank the Senator for raising this matter as it provides me with the opportunity to outline the position regarding school transport at Milford post-primary schools. The school transport scheme was established to cater for children in rural areas who, if living a long distance from school, might otherwise have difficulty in maintaining regular school attendance. Approximately 131,000 primary and post-primary students use the scheme on a regular basis.
Safety on school transport is of paramount importance to the Department of Education and Science and Bus Éireann, which operates the scheme on behalf of the Department, sometimes with its own buses and at others through a management agency. Bus Éireann is responsible for ensuring the scheme is operated in the most efficient and cost effective manner having regard to legislation governing the safety and condition of vehicles. It has extensive knowledge and experience of all relevant legislation governing public transport vehicles, such as safety regulations, road worthiness regulations and regulations relating specifically to the school transport scheme. There is one regime and one set of regulations under which the scheme is operated.
This protest relates to the loading on the school bus service. It has been alleged that the bus is overcrowded. However, this is not the case. Since one agency, Bus Éireann, manages the scheme, the same standards apply throughout the country. This means that standards deemed suitable in one area ought to apply in another.
The permitted loading on all school buses is determined by the relevant sections of the road traffic regulations, construction equipment and use of vehicles, as laid down by the Department. Under public service vehicle regulations, the licensed carrying capacity of all vehicles engaged in school transport is based on a ratio of three pupils for every two adult seats. Great care is taken to ensure loading does not exceed the maximum legal carrying capacity.
It should also be noted that, given the loading sequence on any route, in most cases vehicles would have their full complement of passengers only for perhaps the last 15 minutes of their morning journey and the first 15 minutes of the homeward journey, after which the loading should thin out and would not be a problem. Absenteeism and non-utilisation of tickets contribute to a further reduction in the numbers carried.
There is no recorded case of an accident being attributed to the three for two seating arrangement or of that arrangement exacerbating the effects of an accident. Moreover, the use of this seating arrangement is quite common on school transport in other countries. The safety aspects of school transport, including the seating arrangement, is being examined by the school transport section of the Department of Education and Science, together with Bus Éireann and the Department of the Environment and Local Government.
In line with the commitment in The Road to Safety – The Government Strategy for Road Safety, 1998-2002, a consultation paper which set out a wide range of options for enhancing school bus safety was published by the Department of the Environment and Local Government earlier this year. Following an extended consultation period, a large number of responses were received. These are now being reviewed with a view to identifying a range of specific proposals for implementation. I apologise again for the Minister's absence.