Bus Éireann school fleet to fit seat belts
But private operators, who carry most of the 130,000 pupils on the school transport service, will also have to have seat belts fitted in their vehicles by the end of the year under contracts being agreed with Bus Éireann.
A spokesperson said the company is on target to have all 700 of its school bus fleet fitted with belts by September 1, as work continues on the contract worth around €3.4 million.
The contracts being finalised with private bus operators include a clause under which they must have seat belts in place by the end of December. The Government announced in July last year that every child travelling on school buses would have a seat belt by the end of 2006.
At least 2,400 private buses owned by around 1,300 companies or private drivers are expected to be used in addition to the Bus Éireann fleet for the next school year.
“Technically, the deadline is in December but, where possible, we would like to have seat belts on the private buses. However, many contractors already have them fitted, or have bought second-hand buses with seat belts from abroad,” the Bus Éireann spokesperson said.
The company manages the school transport service on behalf of the Department of Education. The budget for the service has been increased by almost one-quarter this year, from €122 million to €152 million, to facilitate improvements in safety for the bus fleet.
Meanwhile, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is still investigating claims that 19 South African workers fitting the seat belts on Bus Éireann vehicles were being underpaid.
They are employees of South African company Marble Gold, who are subcontracted to Irish firm Transport Components Distributors (TCD), who won the contract to retrofit the Bus Éireann school bus fleet. TCD has denied the claims and said that, when other payments and factors such as accommodation and transport were included, the workers were being paid a sum in excess of the minimum wage.
Sinn Féin workers’ rights spokesperson had claimed the staff were receiving just €120 a week and were not being paid overtime.
A department spokesperson said members of the inspectorate had spoken to a number of the parties involved and are hoping to complete their investigation in the coming weeks.
