Madam, - It is ironic that on the day on which RTÉ's Prime Time special reminded the public of the amounts of tax being avoided by the "super wealthy" of this State, Bus Éireann should try to explain, in tragic circumstances, why school buses without seat-belts, and a three-for-two seat policy, are still allowed.
No shortcuts or cost savings must be tolerated by any Government Department in the area of child welfare. The tax avoided by the tax exiles featured on Prime Time would pay for specialised school buses, complete with seat belts, many times over.
As a parent of a child who is picked up daily by a minibus, complete with seat-belts and a driver's helper, to attend a special school in Galway, I have to ask the question: When will they ever learn? - Yours etc,
DERRICK HAMBLETON, Kingston, Galway.
Madam, - I found myself numb with rage on Monday evening as I contemplated the appalling tragedy that had befallen the families of the schoolchildren tragically killed in Co Meath. My head was awash with sheer frustration as I thought about how we go about our business in this country and how no one ever faces accountability.
I am angry when I think of the sickening irony that the current Minister for Transport is the same man who wasted €50 million of taxpayers' money on an electronic voting scheme while members of his cohort of bureaucrats made a cost benefit analysis which deemed that compulsory fitting of safety belts on school buses was not viable financially.
May God give strength to those poor families in Meath - and may God forgive all those who put cost benefit analysis above life. - Is mise,
SEAN DILLON, Doonbeg, Kilrush, Co Clare.
Madam, - How much was wasted on e-voting machines? How much is wasted on consultants and advisers? How big is the wasted overspend on the roads? How much expenses are members of the Oireachtas willing to award each other? How great are the tax breaks for the obscenely rich?
The €57 million which would have given substantial protection to our schoolchildren has not been made available. What price our children's lives? Shame on all politicians. - Yours, etc,
RONAN CAHILL, Ranelagh, Dublin 6.