More than 85 per cent of Bus Éireann's fleet of schoolbuses have now been retrofitted with seat-belts in advance of the start of the new school term, according to figures provided by the Department of Education.
Some 580 buses out of a fleet of 679 have been fitted with seat-belts for each pupil as part of a €152 million package being spent on the school transport system this year.
The remaining buses are to be fitted with seat-belts before the December deadline in compliance with a EU directive requiring their use in all school buses.
Of the private contractors' vehicles in operation, including taxis and other vehicles used in the school transport scheme, more than 85 per cent have been fitted with belts and are being inspected to ensure that they conform to appropriate standards.
The retrofitting works undertaken by the Government follows the announcement last July of €36.5 million to ensure that each of the estimated 138,000 students who use the school transport system funded by the department will have their own seat and seat-belts by December 2006.
A further measure, announced by the working group established after the school bus crash that killed five teenage girls at Kentstown, Co Meath, in May 2005, was the phasing out of the "three for two" arrangement. This is on course for completion by the end of the year, according to the Department for Education.
To date, Bus Éireann has acquired an additional 52 modern coaches for school transport and a further 30 of these are being sourced, with some due for delivery next week. Another 20 new dedicated school buses are also due for delivery.
The modernisation of the fleet follows the release of figures by the department in July showing that some 15 per cent of Bus Éireann's school buses are more than 20-years-old.
The increased awareness of bus safety follows a series of high-profile incidents involving school buses. In April of this year, Michael White (15) died after the bus in which he was travelling crashed near Clara, Co Offaly. In May, 32 children had a narrow escape when their bus caught fire in Athboy, Co Meath.