Minister to review safety criteria after school bus fire

The Minister for Transport says he is going to review the safety criteria for school buses after a bus caught fire this morning.

More than thirty children were evacuated from a Bus Eireann vehicle near Athboy, Co Meath, after the driver got a smell of smoke.

No-one was hurt, and Bus Eireann has been asked to carry out a full check of its bus fleet.

It comes just a week ahead of the anniversary of the Kentstown bus crash in which five teenagers died.

Minister Martin Cullen says he's anxious to get a full report on this morning's incident, saying: “What I'm going to do is have a system review of the entire procedures and criteria involved.”

“It is not good enough that we're having an ongoing series of these types of issues. I understand, in fact that this bus was only serviced in the last 48 hours.

“And why this has occurred after it was worked on I don't know. I'd like to see what the report shows when I see the detail on it.”