Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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Question 728: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the policy regarding the use of seat-belts for children on school buses; the person legally whose responsibility it is to ensure that these are in use; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [11515/08]

Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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Vehicles operating under my Department's school transport scheme must be equipped with seat belts and pupils are required by law to wear these belts.

The European Communities (Compulsory Use of Safety Belts and Child Restraint Systems in Motor Vehicles) Regulations 2006 — Statutory Instrument No. 240 of 2006, made by the Minister for Transport in May 2006, obliges owners of buses fitted with safety belts to ensure that passengers of such buses are informed of the requirement to wear safety belts while they are seated and the bus is in motion. This obligation may be discharged by one or more of the following means — announcement by the driver or conductor, audio-visual presentation or signs or pictograms displayed at each seat.

In addition, my Department launched safety campaigns in 2006 and 2007 to make parents and children aware that it is the law to wear seat belts on school buses and to encourage children to behave in a safety-conscious manner on, and in the vicinity of, school buses. These messages were conveyed by way of television, cinema and radio advertisements. Additionally, a safety DVD and posters were distributed to all primary and post-primary schools.

Bus Éireann also issued a circular, at the beginning of the current school year, to parents of children travelling on school transport, inviting their co-operation, and that of their children, to help make the school transport journey as safe and comfortable as possible. This circular emphasised the importance of safety, the consequences of misbehaviour and the disciplinary measures which may be necessary.