Bus Eireann last night strongly denied allegations by the Fine Gael spokesman for Public Enterprise, Mr Jim Higgins, that the country's schoolchildren are being transported to school in dangerous vehicles.
Problems with bad brakes, leaking roofs and exposed wires on steering columns are rife, according to a dossier compiled by Mr Higgins.
One driver in the west told the TD that he was transporting children to school in the same vehicle in which he was ferried to classes as a student more than 30 years ago.
Bus Eireann spokesman Mr Cyril McIntyre, however, dismissed Mr Higgins's assertions as "just more attention-seeking utterances".
This was in response to the TD's claim that he has been inundated with information from worried schoolbus drivers who were concerned about the safety of their buses. "We'll keep repeating that all schoolbuses owned by Bus Eireann or their contractors carry valid certificates of roadworthiness issued by the Department of the Environment - and that testing system is a legislative requirement for all buses."
In addition to mandatory checks the buses were also subject to periodic random checks by Department of the Environment's inspectors, Mr McIntyre said.
While it was true that there were some 30-year-old buses in the fleet, they were all perfectly safe, he added. "There are some 40-year-old buses being used by London Transport at the moment. The fact a bus is old does not imply it's unsafe."
All safety norms were covered by the certificate of roadworthiness as well as the ongoing maintenance checks, he stressed, "based on age, mileage or a combination of both".
Mr Higgins said: "One driver wrote to me saying he had to provide makeshift insulation on the wires around the steering column by putting a plastic bag around it. Others complained of leaking roofs, either directly or from constant condensation."
Mr McIntyre responded: "If any schoolbus driver finds a defect on the vehicle he is driving, he is under an obligation to report it to his nearest Bus Eireann garage."