Donegal bus owner fined for defective minibus after Gardaí drive special needs kids home

A Donegal bus company owner has been fined €1,800 after Gardai had to take a teacher and three children with special needs home from school in a patrol car because their school bus had so many defects.

Churchill Cabs owner Stephen McDaid appeared at Letterkenny District Court charged with having a defective vehicle.

The court heard the minibus, which was licensed to Bus Eireann, had eight major defects including badly worn tyres and no back-brakes.

The charge is contrary to section 54 (2) of the Road Traffic Act as amended by Section 46B (1) of the Road Safety Authority Commercial Vehicle Roadworthiness Act of 2012.

The court heard that Mr McDaid, a 45-year-old with an address at Stackarnagh, Churchill, runs a fleet of 13 vehicles.

Gardai first came across the Mercedes bus at Crieve, Letterkenny on June 16, 2024 when they noticed the driver was not wearing a seatbelt.

Sergeant Vincent Muldoon  said the vehicle was stopped and a Road Safety Inspector was called to examine the vehicle.

The inspector, who was in court, found the minibus had eight major defects and the vehicle was impounded.

Sergeant Muldoon said he was then forced to take home three of the children, who had special needs, and their teacher in the patrol car and transport them to their homes.

Solicitor for the accused, Mr Michael Shiel, said his client had pleaded to the charge at an early stage.

He stressed that his client was not driving the vehicle and allowed some of his drivers to take their vehicles home at weekends.

The court also heard that the driver of the bus is also due before the court on charges connected to the same incident.

Mr Shiel said his client's situation had been "fairly outlined" by the Sergeant.

He also accepted that the Road Safety Authority had visited Mr McDaid's company and found a number of issues with a number of vehicles in a follow-up inspection.

However, a subsequent inspection of Mr McDaid's fleet found all vehicles were in order.

Mr Shiel said his client now has a nominated mechanic who inspects his buses on a weekly basis, as well as an overall eight-week inspection and that all buses must now be returned to base on Fridays.

He added that his client was in the transports business for the past twelve years and has no previous convictions of any kind.

Mr Shiel addressed Judge Emile Daly saying: “I would ask you to bear in mind the way he has faced all matters and rectified all matters (in his vehicle fleet) and give him credit for the twelve years in the transport business without any previous convictions."

The court was told that the penalty for the charge was a fine up to €5,000 and up to three months in prison.

Passing sentence, Judge Daly said this was a business involved in the transport business and used to transport schoolchildren to and from various places and that was an aggravating factor.

She added that the situation was not managed in a way that was appropriate and that was being generous.

The judge also referred to the fact that three children and a teacher had to be taken home by Gardai in a patrol car "such was the state of the vehicle."

However, she accepted an early plea was made, Mr McDaid had a clean record with no previous convictions and had been in the business for twelve years but added "of all people he should know the standard of safety."

She accepted that the accused had loan payments with a fleet of 13 vehicles and fined him a total of €1,800.