Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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There has been considerable investment, and rightly so, in recent years in Iarnród Éireann, DART, Luas, Aer Lingus and inter-city Bus Éireann buses. However, the transport fleet that is entrusted to carry our children to school is now the least safe method of public transport. In the past year there have been five serious accidents involving school buses. Everybody remembers the tragic death of five young girls in Kentstown, County Meath. In addition, a bus went on fire in County Meath minutes before it was due to pick up children. In Sligo, a seven year old fell out of a bus window, while in Clara, County Offaly, a young boy lost his life. Yesterday, a bus which had been carrying 32 school children caught fire and burned out.

This must be a matter of serious concern for the Government. I heard the Minister of State, Deputy de Valera, say this morning on the radio that we have a safe and roadworthy school bus system. However, the Department combined the private contracted buses and the school bus fleet to reduce the average age of the vehicles, which is now estimated to be 16 years. This is an issue on which the Taoiseach has absolute control. It is not subject to court rulings or confusion.

Many parents are concerned about their children travelling on the clapped-out school bus fleet, many of whose vehicles are more than 16 years old. Having a transport company run a school bus fleet causes confusion between supplying a proper and safe service and running a commercial entity. Is the Government not concerned about this? Is the Taoiseach not anxious that a school bus fleet of that age operated by Bus Éireann is not as roadworthy as it should be? Contrary to what the Minister of State, Deputy de Valera, said, five accidents and six deaths in the past year is not a safe record. What will the Taoiseach do about it?

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister of State, Deputy de Valera, correctly said that the school bus fleet has had a good record over the years. What Deputy Kenny said is also correct, last year has been worrying. There have been five incidents and in two of those children were killed. In another incident, children got out of the back of a bus and yesterday there could have been an enormous tragedy. We must count ourselves lucky after that. However, when we get such luck we must examine the issues carefully to try to avoid such difficulties in the future.

Both Bus Éireann and the Garda are investigating the causes of the fire yesterday. I cannot comment on the causes until those investigations have been completed but it is important that we find out what happened. The bus in question passed its annual roadworthiness test in August and was checked as part of the maintenance programme at the end of March. It was not due to lack of examination. The average age of the bus fleet is 11 years, when the Bus Éireann and private buses are combined, but the average age of the Bus Éireann fleet is higher, as the Deputy said. Buses have a long lifespan in all countries. It is not the age but the roadworthiness of a bus that matters.

The procedures for the bus fleet have been followed. We have been involved, in conjunction with the local authorities and the fire service, in conducting full examinations and checks of all these issues. Deputy Kenny asked if I am happy that everything is all right after five incidents, and, frankly, no, I am not. I spoke to the Minister today and I asked him, in conjunction with his officials, to order a full systems review of the entire process, to examine the criteria and to examine how we do our business in this area. We will not be lucky all the time and we have not been lucky previously so it is better that we examine it. Perhaps the system is fine but I am not an authority on it. We must examine all the processes and procedures in place.

One matter that was brought to my attention some time ago is that roadworthiness checks on buses are carried out by CIE staff. The view is that it would not be possible to have thousands of buses checked outside CIE. However, auditing oneself is not good practice in any area. This should be examined. Again, it might be unavoidable but the entire process should be examined. I discussed this earlier with the Minister, Deputy Cullen, and he will order that it happens today.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Taoiseach for his indication that there will be a full review and audit of the process and structure of the school transport system. When a transport company is running a fleet that is designed to provide safe transport for school children, there can be confusion between running a commercial entity and providing a safe system. What are the maintenance costs for the existing fleet? The provision of newer buses, with an age limit of ten years for example, would reduce maintenance costs substantially. How can a bus that was checked two days ago subsequently catch fire? Mechanics can only do a certain amount with buses that are beyond a certain age. As a matter of urgency, will the Minister for Education and Science instruct that every bus that is ten years old or over be independently assessed? There is a fear that there will be more of these types of incidents. With buses that are 16 years old or more and given the nature of the five incidents in the past 12 months, it is a cause for serious concern.

The Department of Education and Science has written to parents with children who use the school bus system. The departmental letter claims that because of the unfortunate tragedy in Kentstown, seat belts are being placed on all school buses. However, as a result, there is no room for some children and parents must make whatever arrangements they want to get their children to school. Has the introduction of these seat belts to increase safety resulted in a reduction by a third of the number of children who can be carried on the system, resulting in parents being told to find their own way to school?

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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Earlier in the year the Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science, Deputy de Valera, outlined the procedures that will be introduced. Obviously, if seat belts are introduced for children on school buses, it will affect seating capacity on the buses and some children will not be able to travel on them. In the incident in which a child fell out of the back of the bus, there were seat belts on that bus. The Department wrote to parents because children were not using seat belts. The necessary arrangements have been made. Until recently, the number of children allowed on the buses was in excess of the number of seats. This cannot continue when seat belt wearing is made compulsory.

Those involved in testing the school bus fleet are strict on the roadworthiness test. They are conscious that children are being carried on the buses and, children being children, may not be the quietest on a bus. The bus in question passed its Department of Transport roadworthiness test. It was conducted in an authorised test centre in Meath last August. It also had a recent service. In these examinations the older buses must be watched. Many older buses are in very good order.

The test processes are best to be considered. Maybe it is all perfect. I would be happy if the system were examined in total. I am not putting any pressure on those involved in testing school buses. A system where an individual can both fix a bus and do its DOT examination does not apply in other areas. It is an issue on everyone's, especially parents', minds. We acted last year to increase the number of buses and expenditure on the fleet is substantial. Since the tragic accident last year we have tackled the seat belt issue. There have been other incidents where people have lost their lives. The system must be carefully examined. It would be fine if there were no room for improvement. Nothing will be lost, however, by having a detailed examination. I will ask the Minister to do so.

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Last weekend, there was a spate of facilitatory interviews with the Taoiseach. I did not see them all, particularly the one on Setanta. This weekend I will be keeping a close watch on it, especially with the big match on. I do not know if the Taoiseach has an appearance booked yet.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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He will be the second referee.

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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I did not hear the Taoiseach refer to the Aer Lingus issue in any of the interviews I read or heard. What progress has been made on bringing Aer Lingus to the stock market? Is it still the Government's determination to do so? Will it come to the market by the summer? Is commentary in the newspapers that the summer deadline has been missed really the case? What size share does the Government intend to retain? What are the problems that have headed off an initial public offering, IPO, by summer?

What are the difficulties in resolving the company's pension issue? What share of the IPO's proceeds will go into the company's pension fund? If the summer cut-off is not made and the various stories in the newspapers' financial pages are true, is it proposed to proceed to the market in autumn? In those circumstances will the Government make the deadline because if the sale passes June, a new set of accounts will have to be produced for an autumn sale?

What is the Government's assessment of the Air Berlin experience? Air Berlin went to the stock market last week but found it had to halve the expected share price with the subsequent reduction in income. In these circumstances, is it the Government's intention to proceed with the sale? It was banking on getting a paltry €400 million for the sale. If the Air Berlin experience is anything to go by, and with rising energy costs and the lack of market sentiment for airline stocks, we stand to get only €250 million. Will the national airline be sold for a mess of pottage as little as €200 million or €300 million? Is the Government reviewing its stance on this issue?

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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Following consideration of the report prepared by the advisers appointed by the Ministers for Transport and Finance on the investment transaction of Aer Lingus, the Ministers agreed proposals for the implementation of the investment transaction which were presented at a Government meeting in April.

The investment transaction is to be implemented on the following basis. In line with the Government's decision last summer, a majority of the Government's shareholding in Aer Lingus will be sold. This will be done through an IPO of the company's shares on the Stock Exchange. The State will retain a minimum stake of 25.1% in the company to protect the State's strategic interest. The transaction is to be implemented as soon as possible, taking into account Stock Exchange rules and market conditions.

A June date for the IPO was never mentioned by the Government. Last weekend some sections of the media speculated that the recent rise in crude oil prices could threaten the planned Aer Lingus IPO. The prospect of oil prices reaching record highs poses a risk for the entire economy. It is true that airlines are particularly sensitive to external shocks and global downturns. In the aftermath of the events of 11 September 2001, several well-established airlines went to the wall. The primary reason behind the Government's decision to sell a majority shareholding in the company is to allow the company access to the financial markets so that it will have sufficient financial strength to continue to compete in the competitive global aviation market and withstand such shocks. It will be in a much better position to do so if it has a strong balance sheet.

The transaction will be implemented as soon as possible. It will take account of stock market conditions and the regulatory requirements that need to be fulfilled before a flotation can take place. The exact arrangements in this regard will be decided by the Ministers for Transport and Finance based on the professional advice available to them.

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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If the Government has decided to sell off the national airline, a decision I do not agree with, are the people not at least entitled to expect the Government to handle it competently? The Taoiseach's remarks are reminiscent of his climb down on decentralisation at the weekend. He has provided a door through which to escape when this collapses. If the Government is minded to sell off Aer Lingus, the Taoiseach will have to answer for why he personally routed the chief executive who proposed that at a time when it would have at least have brought in a few shillings for the Exchequer. Those market conditions no longer obtain.

The experience of Air Berlin, not dissimilar to Aer Lingus, cannot be ignored. We now hear the Taoiseach say that he proposed to go the market as soon as possible but his advisers must take into account market conditions. It is most likely, if the Taoiseach now accepts that he has missed the June deadline, that the situation will further worsen by September. Where and in what kind of mess does that leave us? Having had the experience of Eircom, an unmitigated disaster, where £70 million was paid out in fees to advisers, the Taoiseach is paying out more fees while telling the House, in effect, that the prospect of an IPO in September or October are minimal and, if it does happen, it will be to give away the national airline for a song, leaving this trading island nation with no control over future air links.

The situation since forcing out the chief and top executives, when market conditions were more propitious, seems to indicate that we are heading into another example of this Government's incompetence when it comes to doing the simple things well.

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Rabbitte's short-term and long-term memory are not good this morning. As I said earlier, June was never put forward as a date. The Government would be totally irresponsible to go to the market without the advice of our financial experts in this area. We will go to the market when the time is right based on the advice we get. It is still the view it can happen this year.

I am surprised Deputy Rabbitte is taking up a position that was opposed by every trade unionist in Aer Lingus, when management wanted to steal the assets for themselves through a management buy out, shafting staff interests. Deputy Rabbitte is now defending that position.

Seán Ryan (Dublin North, Labour)
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The Taoiseach's own 11 backbenchers could not justify this. They did not even turn up at the meeting.

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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I am glad those individuals went on to prove their worth in the financial marketplace but at least they did not do it by taking the assets away from Aer Lingus.

Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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That is the Taoiseach's job. He will finish what they started.

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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I cannot understand Deputy Seán Ryan's logic that a management buy-out was better than an injection of capital. Why does he oppose the trade unionists in Aer Lingus? This is wrong.

Seán Ryan (Dublin North, Labour)
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Fianna Fáil backbenchers were afraid to go out and justify this privatisation.

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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The State will retain a minimum stake of 25.1%. We will make our decisions based on the advice we get on stock market conditions. We will do this correctly to allow Aer Lingus to develop in future. Discussions on pension funds and related staff issues are ongoing, the Minister for Transport continues to have meetings with the trade unions.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Everything will be all right then.

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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Why is the Labour Party against the Minister for Transport meeting the trade unions on pension issues?

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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He might try to sell them e-voting machines.

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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Why has it abandoned the staff of Aer Lingus? I will have to ask Deputy Glennon to assure the workers that we still care about them in this House. He will assure them that we will take their interests in pensions and other issues into account.

Seán Ryan (Dublin North, Labour)
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He does not even know where the airport is.

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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No Fianna Fáil Deputies turned up at the meeting about Aer Lingus, that is the real point.

A report in The Irish Times today, details the support and largesse the Taoiseach enjoys from a large number of construction companies. Does this special relationship explain the Taoiseach's comments at the IMI national management conference in April, where he talked up the housing market, even though prices have risen by nine times the rate of wage inflation and average household debt has increased from 40% of disposable income to 130% since this Government took power?

The OECD states that the housing market was overvalued by 15% in 2005, the Central Bank states that the housing boom is unsustainable and poses a significant risk to the economy and the ESRI has expressed concern. Even the Minister for Finance tried to talk down the boom, hoping for a soft landing. Some commentators have even said that the Taoiseach's reckless comments could be seen as irresponsible. The Taoiseach's comments at Druid's Glen, that the levels of gross indebtedness due to inflated house prices are not a problem for hard-pressed mortgage borrowers, were irresponsible. On reflection, and in the light of those comments in direct contradiction of his claims, would the Taoiseach accept it was irresponsible to make such remarks?

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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It would be good if Deputy Sargent read the 40 minute speech I made in Druid's Glen; quite apparently he did not. He has made one remark about what I said afterwards in a press briefing where I was asked if there would be a crash. I said that I did not believe there would be a crash. I will give Deputy Sargent the same answer I gave that day. Irish residential property stock is worth €500 billion and the loan book is €100 billion so I do not see why that should create a shock. I said the same in 2003, 2004 and 2005. I said the same thing at the IMI conference almost every year and every year I had to listen to reports that the bottom would fall from the market and we would build fewer houses but that is not the case.

I went on to say that the priority of this Government is to ensure we get supply and demand. We have worked hard in this Government and successfully achieved the creation of more houses every year for nine years, both social and affordable.

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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People are in more debt than ever before.

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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The population has risen and demand has remained strong.

Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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People are in hock with 40 year mortgages, making the speculators filthy rich.

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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Somewhere along the line supply and demand will come together. The reality is that there are cautionary issues about 100% mortgages. We all agree on that.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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The Taoiseach is talking them up.

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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However, we should not try to create a crisis in a very important part of this country's economy. We should try to promote Part V of the Local Government (Planning and Development) Act 1999, provisions for social and affordable housing and shared ownership schemes.

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy McCormack asked a question yesterday and should go away. We are successfully promoting the provisions I have just mentioned. This is why we are building more than 80,000 houses, four times the rate found in the UK, five times the European rate and a rate which is far higher than the US rate. Our construction sector is healthy, people are buying houses and we are trying to do as much as we can. We will spend €2 billion on social housing this year so the Opposition should not lecture me about our record on social and affordable housing. This Government is doing more than any other Government in the history of this State.

Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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Perhaps the Technical Group would allow Deputy Sargent to ask a question.

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle for his intervention. Feelings on this matter are running very high. I cannot believe that the Taoiseach can state that there is no problem when people are faced with 40-year mortgages and are more indebted than ever before. It is a hear no evil, see no evil and speak no evil approach. I acknowledge that our construction sector is healthy in that its profits are high. However, the results are poor insulation, poor building standards, poor health and safety practices and poor inspection standards.

In June 2005, I raised a certain issue with the Taoiseach who gave me a commitment I believed would stand up. I raised with the Taoiseach and the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Killeen, the serious problem of subcontractors and suppliers suffering from serious underpayment from main contractors. Almost one year later, not only do our main contractors, including Glenman Corporation, continue to benefit from public sector contracts for which taxpayers are paying through the nose, companies and suppliers working for them are still being forced into bankruptcy and liquidated as I speak. Does the Taoiseach believe such a construction industry is healthy?

I am not sure if the main contractor I mentioned is one of the main donors to Fianna Fáil but it is a major sponsor of the Galway Races in which Fianna Fáil has a major interest. However, I have hard evidence to show that Glenman Corporation broke its payment terms of subcontracts with, for example, KBD Engineering and that taxpayers' money is not reaching the people who carry out the work on these Government contracts. In June 2005, the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Killeen, told me that local authorities would maintain a watching brief to see if and how this matter is resolved and the Taoiseach told me that anyone breaching the law would not receive Government contracts.

Will the Taoiseach call in the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, South Dublin County Council, Glenman Corporation and those subcontractors to answer the question he said they would be forced to answer? He said that if such companies breached the law, they would not receive Government contracts, but they have received contracts and, like many people, do not think he is serious about fraud in this country.

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Sargent misunderstood what I said at Druid's Glen.

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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The construction industry.

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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I am glad to clarify matters about any breaches of the law and procedures to assist Deputy Sargent. If anyone breaches the Prompt Payments of Accounts Act 1997 or does not pay subcontractors, I would be glad to discuss it with the inspectorate. Any such breaches, regardless of whether they relate to payment, standards or breaking the guaranteed housing system, are unacceptable.

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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The Taoiseach did that a year ago.

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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There have been investigations into a number of companies.

Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)
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In respect of PRSI or tax?

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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A number of companies have been hauled over the coals.

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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No one has been called to account.

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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The standards followed, especially those relating to the public sector, are very high.

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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There is no evidence of this.

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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We may not always witness the same standards in the private sector but regulations exist to do this. In our social and affordable housing initiatives——

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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They are public contracts. They are social and affordable housing initiatives.

Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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The Taoiseach, without interruption.

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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If there are any breaches of the law in these initiatives, regardless of whether they are national housing schemes, local authority schemes or any schemes funded by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, we will happily follow them up because the inspectorate exists to ensure such breaches do not happen. A number of cases are investigated every year but I will certainly follow up any information given to me by Deputy Sargent.