Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their attendance. As for the legal advice, I wish to associate myself with the comments by Deputies Coffey and O'Donovan. As Deputy Ann Phelan has touched on some of the questions I had wished to ask, I will turn briefly to the tendering process. Companies that have been going through this process for years and which have had contracts for years may suddenly find themselves failing or losing out. On companies that may be coming in with considerably lower bids in respect of prices and so on, I believe I have raised the question previously both as to whether there is an appeals process and as to whether there is a mechanism by which complaints can be made. If so, is this on the record and is there transparency? Does Bus Éireann have a figure as to how many people in the past actually have made complaints, whether they were successful and so on? On the 3 km rule, is there any discretion in this regard? I have encountered cases in which two siblings might be on the bus but the third sibling has not been allowed to go on the bus. As the witnesses can understand, for a parent it obviously is not logical, does not work and can be highly distressing and upsetting, especially for the third child who is told he or she cannot take this school transport.

I am curious about the age of the buses. I left school in 2004 and can remember friends who used to arrive on a bus that was manufactured in 1979. It was colder inside the bus then it was outside. Is there a cut-off age and is there a standard for the buses in this regard? Following on from that, I refer to the bus crash in Kentstown, which is in my constituency. An inquiry was conducted by Bus Éireann into what happened and how the company conducts school transport. As far as I am aware, the findings have not been published. If this is the case, does the company intend to publish the findings or where can they be found?