Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister of State for her initial statement. I am conscious that this is a time of intense heartbreak for the families of the girls who were killed and a time of heartbreak and huge worry for the parents of those children who were injured and whose outcomes are still unknown. I also accept the Minister of State's comment that it is far too soon to understand the circumstances that gave rise to the accident or to decide what specific action is required as a result of any investigation that might take place. However, it raises the question of the general laxity in respect of road safety, particularly in this regard.

I ask the Minister of State to refer back to the many reports both from her Department and the Oireachtas joint committee report completed by my colleague, Deputy Naughten, as far back as six years ago, which recommended the ending of the three for two arrangement. While I very much welcome the fact that the Minister of State has said that she now wants to phase it out within three years or so, if that report had been heeded we would have been ten years into that programme by the time it is now envisaged this will be completed. Many lives could have been saved if the report had been heeded at the time.

I am concerned at the suggestion that seat belts are not safe for children. When I carry passengers, including children, in my car, I have a duty of care to ensure they are strapped in. Is it not strange that the State does not have a similar duty of care when it moves children in public buses that provide school transport services? If it is regarded as safe to require me to strap children into my car, why is it suddenly suggested that it is not safe in buses? I accept that children are different sizes, but so are adults, and that applies to cars also. Whether in cars or buses, one would imagine that the same safety considerations would apply.

I would also like to refer to the question of the coming EU directive. Much has been made of it in the media, which suggested that it would require the use of seat belts in those vehicles that have them and that, in future, buses would need to be fitted with them. Since we have had many reports recommending the same thing, why should we have to wait for the EU to tell us what to do in that regard? Is it not absolutely imperative that we start now? I understand that it cannot be done overnight, but a beginning must be made. There have been various estimates of the amount that it would cost, but they were extreme, being based on the idea that 880 buses would be required. That is only if every single route were carrying the maximum number of passengers, and that is clearly not the case. A beginning could be made for far less than the media are currently suggesting.

The other point that I wished to make concerns the retro-fitting of seat belts and the age of buses being used by the school bus service. It seems perverse that what is not good enough to carry ordinary passengers in the public bus service is considered all right for the transport of children. I accept that an MOT examination is conducted each year and that the buses are mechanically safe to go on the roads, but is it not possible that, as no test is carried out on the bodywork or the vehicle cabin in which passengers are transported, they may not be of an acceptable standard? The Minister of State may recall examples of children falling out of the back of buses because they pushed out a window. Standards that might have been acceptable for bus bodywork ten, 15 or 20 years ago might not be acceptable now and would certainly not be acceptable in the cars or buses being manufactured today. Although they may be mechanically roadworthy, that is different from saying that they are safe for transporting children.

As a result of this accident, perhaps the Minister will examine the decommissioning of buses not manufactured to accept seat belts. That seems an absolute minimum move. Other moves may be required, such as the mandatory use of seat belts and the ending of the three for two system. We should remove from the roads any of the older buses unfit even for the retro-fitting of seat belts. Their bodywork would no longer be of an acceptable standard, regardless of their mechanical safety.

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