Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have to raise the disastrous roll-out of the defunct pilot school transport scheme in County Clare. I hope it is not replicated in other rural areas. There has been a cluster of serious safety concerns. All I have received in response from the Minister is reference to another review. There had to be major backwards and forwards with the parents and Bus Éireann. I thank all of the parents for their huge work in this area. Inappropriate locations have been chosen for bus stops. We had 280 children at a stop in a pub car park on a busy main road with no bus shelter. There was a stop at the side of the dual carriageway until the parents had to push back. On 2 September, children were seated three to a seat and standing in stairwells. Then there is a crazy issue of no seat belts on the 316 bus at 7:55 a.m. This shows little regard for road safety and duty of care and the minimal planning done in this regard. Only this week has a more suitable bus been found but we have no clarification whether that is a permanent fixture.

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