David Norris (Independent)

I may not be in the House but will read the reply of the Minister of State with interest. I am glad to hear the positive drift of her comments. Safety belts must be worn once they are fitted but that requirement is absurd when some of them are not fitted. We are making it mandatory where they are fitted but we not living up to our obligation to have them fitted. The Minister says they will be fitted quite soon. However, I raised this issue many years ago and I am sorry it has not yet been done.

The directives also oblige owners of buses fitted with safety belts to ensure the passengers of such buses are informed of the requirement that they be seated while the bus is moving. Again, this relates to the situation after the belts have been fitted. I hope there are no accidents before this desirable overall refit is complete. I am not satisfied that there is proper testing of buses. It is perfectly obvious that there is not. The tests are either not the same as the NCT or they are unsatisfactory.

Finally, the Minister of State stated, and I promise to read her reply to this debate in detail, that the overall number of children being carried has decreased by 12% since 1997. That is interesting. Why is that? Why has it not had a further effect? If the number is decreasing, why is it not possible to extend the scheme to give people choice? That would be very good although expensive. Give people choice so that if they wish to send their children to a multidenominational school five miles further away, it can be done. That would be healthy. The slack created by the fact of this decrease could be used to include such people in the scheme.