THE ROAD Safety Authority (RSA) has expressed concern about the incidences of fires and fatal crashes involving the State's bus fleet.
The authority said it viewed as "very serious" the latest incident this week when 47 school children were evacuated from a school bus in Co Laois after the driver spotted smoke coming from the engine.
The incident is just one of at least 10 fires or serious crashes - some of the fatal - involving schoolchildren since mid-2005.
Separately, Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey is to be asked to explain a two-year delay in transferring commercial vehicle safety testing from local authorities and a network of local garages to the RSA.
Mr Dempsey is to be invited to address the Oireachtas Committee on Transport after the authority's chief executive Noel Brett outlined details of the delay at a recent committee meeting.
Mr Dempsey expressed concern over the safety of school bus fleets as far back as 2006, when more than 30 teenagers escaped injury following a blaze on board a Bus Éireann vehicle near Athboy, Co Meath. "We have to try and ensure this doesn't happen again," he said.
Mr Dempsey was speaking then almost a year after five schoolgirls were killed when the bus they were travelling in crashed outside Kentstown, also in Co Meath.
The Kentstown crash was later ascribed to the failure of ABS brakes and fines totalling €2.2 million were imposed on Bus Éireann, Meath County Council and Keltank Ltd, a local garage, for breaches of health and safety legislation.
Another company, McArdles Test Centre Ltd of Dundalk, Co Louth, was acquitted of a charge against it by direction of Judge Patrick McCartan.
In April 2007 an independent report recommended transferring responsibility for commercial vehicle testing to the RSA. However, despite Government approval, Mr Brett told the Oireachtas committee last week this had not yet happened. He said the money to implement the change, from an increase in the driver testing fee, was available, but the "transfer of function" has yet to be signed off.
While 22 staff members "are required to take this function out of the local authorities", Mr Brett said new staff did not have to be recruited, as they could be transferred from other departments.
"I and my authority are ready to proceed with this once it is assigned to us," he said.
Opposition transport spokesman Fergus O'Dowd said he had "grave concerns, as does everybody involved in road safety, following a number of crashes involving buses." He said the concerns were "about the whole process and the independence of the testing regime".
"One of the findings of the independent report was that test processes are inconsistent with different standards applied," Mr O'Dowd said. "The result is an unacceptably high proportion of Irish commercial vehicles being in a non-roadworthy condition, as evidence reached in high-profile cases and observations in the UK."
A spokeswoman for Mr Dempsey said: "The issue is not one of funding, but one of staffing. The request for additional staffing is currently with the Department of Finance for consideration."
DANGER ON THE ROAD: BUS FIRES AND CRASHES
October 5th, 2009
Forty-seven school pupils evacuated from a bus on their way to Ballinakill, Co Laois, when a fire broke out in the engine area at the back.
June 23rd, 2009
A number of primary school children escaped injury after the coach in which they were travelling caught fire on the M50 near Ballinteer, Dublin.
September 2008
A bus which had earlier dropped off 20 passengers including a number of schoolchildren caught fire in Co Cork. A driver and four further passengers were on board when the fire broke out.
March 2008
A number of children escaped injury when a school bus was involved in a crash in Mullingar, Co Westmeath.
May 2007
Up to 70 people were evacuated from a morning commuter bus travelling from Maynooth to Dublin after a fire broke out in the engine.
October 2007
Four people were brought to hospital after a bus crashed in Co Offaly. The bus was taking students to Moate Business College.
May 2006
More than 30 teenagers escaped injury following a blaze on board a Bus Éireann vehicle near Athboy, Co Meath, at 8.35am.
April 2006
Michael White (15) died when a bus overturned near Rahan, Co Offaly, as it was bringing students from Clara to Killina Presentation secondary school.
February 2006
Pupils of a Limerick secondary school escaped injury when their bus burst into flames minutes before they were due to get on it.
May 2005
Five schoolgirls died in a bus crash near Kentstown, outside Navan.
T IM O'BRIEN
