Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The programme for Government includes a commitment to review the school transport scheme, but 90% of services in the scheme are operated by private companies contracted by Bus Éireann. That is well over 1,000 companies carrying 100,000 children. Thankfully and mercifully, no one was killed in the school bus accident yesterday in Limerick. Buses undergo annual roadworthiness tests, and seat belts, as the Tánaiste knows, are mandatory. However, as reported by Paul Melia in today's edition of the Irish Independent, half of the 1,207 buses subject to roadside inspections in 2016 were found to have defects. There is no suggestion, and I am making none, that there was anything at all wrong with the bus involved in the accident but in light of that article, will the Government conduct a safety review of the school bus fleet to give reassurance to all parents that everything is well?

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