The three-for-two seating policy on in school buses would have to end the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said last.
Speaking on last night's Late Late Show, Mr Ahern said that retro-fitting seatbelts on the existing CIE fleet would be difficult. He said that the fleet would be upgraded and the new buses would have seatbelts.
He said: "People would want to know as quickly as we can, [that] we can move to a situation where our children are travelling as safely as possible," he said. "I can't say we are going to get there on the first of September."
Mr Ahern was speaking after the fifth funeral of school girls who were killed when a bus overturned in Co Meath.