Síle de Valera (Clare, Fianna Fail)

The Deputy is perfectly right that the directive will not come into force under the position I outlined in my initial answer. I wish to proceed ahead of transposition of the directive because our interest is to ensure every possible safety mechanism exists within the school transport system. The process has been ongoing which is why we have actively considered the phasing out of three for two seating arrangements. Many references have been made to the report of the Oireachtas committee which considered school transport and made two very interesting findings. The committee recommended the phasing out of three for two seating arrangements for primary school pupils whereas I wish to phase them out completely on all school buses. While the committee referred to the provision of seat belts in new buses only, we intend to ensure all buses in the school transport fleet are so equipped.

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