Ulick Burke (Fine Gael)

On numerous occasions in the past year I have asked the Leader to bring to the notice of the Minister for Education and Science the serious situation that has developed on an ongoing basis, and which has been repeated today, whereby the bus fleet for transporting pupils to school is unsafe. It is unbelievable that the Minister ignores the calls and concerns of many partners in education who are not politicians. They have repeatedly asked for a complete audit on all school transport vehicles, those of Bus Éireann as well as the private operators. This inspection must be independent. A disaster was narrowly avoided today when a bus caught fire in County Westmeath. We have had disaster and tragedy in Meath and Offaly in the recent past.

I am not so sure what it will take to activate the Minister to address the problems and disasters associated with school transport. It is important that there be an independent assessor for all the vehicles, once and for all.

It is clear the bus that went on fire today did not have a fire extinguisher on board. If it were not for the alertness of the pupils themselves, we would surely be talking about an even greater tragedy today. The Leader should invite the Minister to the House to indicate clearly that she will carry out, once and for all, a thorough audit of all school buses, both private and public.