Tenders to fit seatbelts were sought in ‘error’

Mary Dundon, Political Reporter

There was a huge public outcry following the deaths in May because the bus had no seatbelts.

Despite demands from parents associations and opposition parties that seatbelts be given a priority and fitted to school buses by September, Education Minister Mary Hanafin said it would not be possible to meet that deadline.

But at noon yesterday, Bus Éireann posted a notice on a Government website seeking tenders from interested parties to put 30,000 seatbelts in school buses. A deadline of July 25 was set for receipt of applications on the www.etender.gov.ie website.

Following inquiries from the Irish Examiner the company confirmed it hoped work could start on fitting belts by September.

"We are trying to be proactive and get this programme started before the children go back to school and work should start at least by September," a Bus Éireann spokesman said.

The company has to go through the public procurement process but will try to speed it up so that it can give Mary Hanafin a realistic picture on when the work will be completed, the spokesman said.

But at 4pm, Bus Éireann called back to say that the tenders had not been sought. "It was an error to put this up on the website it was put up by a junior who did not realise the project had not yet been sanctioned," he said.

Asked when the company intended to seek tenders for the seatbelts, the spokesman said: "We cannot do that until negotiations with various Government departments are completed and it is too premature to do it yet."

National Parents Council Post-Primary president Eleanor Petrie said: "This is ridiculous. Bus Éireann should be moving as quickly as possible to get these seatbelts fitted during a quiet time for school buses there are children's lives at risk here."

Labour Party education spokeswoman Jan O'Sullivan said: "It is ludicrous for Bus Éireann to change their minds about seeking these tenders."

Ms O'Sullivan said that Bus Éireann and the department must have buses without seatbelts fitted with them and buy new buses that already had them.

"The department has told me that it is possible to source new buses from companies in Donegal, Turkey and the UK, so they should move without delay to do that," she Deputy O'Sullivan said.