The foreman of the repair company for the bus involved in the Navan crash has said an anti-lock braking system was 'never mentioned' in relation to the bus.
Pat Bevington told the Circuit Criminal Court that Keltank Ltd was never asked to repair the ABS and he did not know the bus was fitted with the system.
Five teenage girls were killed when the vehicle crashed near the village of Kentstown, Navan, in May 2005.
Mr Bevington said the first he knew of the existence of the ABS system on the bus was when he read about it in the newspaper.
He said most of Keltank's work involved the servicing and repair of Bus Éireann buses.
When asked what the position was in relation to the ABS he said it was never mentioned on those buses.
The court also heard that Keltank did not have the diagnostic equipment to test ABS.
However Aidan Callan, a mechanic and former employee who serviced the bus, said he knew there was an ABS but it was not functioning on that bus 'or any of them'.
Another mechanic Colin Maher also told the court that he was aware the buses were fitted with ABS but they were generally not working.
However on cross-examination he confirmed that he meant the dashboard light was not on, but that did not necessarily mean the ABS was not functioning.
He agreed that as a mechanic he had no 'hand, act or part' in informing a Bus Éireann driver what to be aware of while driving the bus.
Firm admits charge
Keltank has pleaded guilty to a charge under the Health, Safety and Welfare at Work act.
However the trial is continuing against McArdles Test Centre Ltd from Dundalk.
McArdles has pleaded not guilty to two charges of failing to note the ABS warning light on the bus was not working when it tested the bus two months before the accident.
Another mechanic Aidan McManus, who fitted a circuit panel to the bus, said it had come directly from Bus Éireann in Broadstone and he made no adjustments to it.
He was later made aware that the ABS warning light had been removed, but said he would not have known anything about it, he simply fitted it to the bus.
Mr McManus also said that Keltank never had diagnostic equipment to test ABS and if Bus Éireann had wanted it tested it would have had to be done somewhere else.
