Denis Naughten (Longford-Roscommon, Fine Gael)

I take it that included in the Minister of State's considerations are increases to the charges which families must face. Since 1997 how many additional children are now being transported to school? The Minister of State mentioned the concern of parents, the biggest of which is the lack of seatbelts on primary school buses. While parents bringing children to school must have seatbelts or risk getting penalty points, the Department of Education and Science does not require seatbelts. Although the EU will shortly issue a recommendation, it will not affect secondhand buses in the school transport system, many of which are substandard.

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