Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to have the opportunity to speak on this very important topic. It could be construed by some that I have a conflict of interest here because I am a school bus operator, as was my father before me since 1956. I am proud to provide a service and to transport children safely to schools. That is what every contractor I know in Kerry does. I want the witnesses to confirm a few matters. It was very hurtful to many contractors throughout the county of Kerry, and let every man talk for his own area, to hear that buses being used by private contractors were not up to the required standard. Will the witnesses confirm that when a contract is issued or when a bus is checked during the year, it has to have an MOT certificate and that the bus is often checked by the Road Safety Authority, RSA? Bus Éireann can then call in the bus to be inspected by FTA Ireland, another outfit employed by Bus Éireann to check its bus contractors' buses. Contractors in Kerry have to go to Cahersiveen or Tralee to get their bus tested. I want the witnesses to confirm that.

The public service vehicle, PSV, inspector will check a bus before it goes on the road, and the bus dare not travel until one has the PSV licence. A bus operator also has to have a transport operator's licence. It is the first thing the operator has to get. Is it correct that the bus operator and the driver have to do CPC training for one day every year? That is part of the regime.

Many contractors have an issue with Garda vetting. It is proper and right that the bus driver has to be Garda vetted, but if, say, Deputy Eamon Scanlon's bus driver, who has been Garda vetted by him and is working for Bus Éireann, changes buses for some reason or goes to drive Deputy Charlie McConalogue's bus for a few days, Deputy McConalogue will have to have him Garda vetted as well even though he has already been Garda vetted by Deputy Eamon Scanlon down the road. That is a big problem because the Garda process takes time. If Deputy McConalogue's bus driver is sick, he cannot use Deputy Scanlon's bus driver even though he is working for the same company. That is ridiculous.

Will the witnesses confirm that there is such a thing as a 20 year rule? Any bus belonging to a private bus operator has to cease operating for school transport once the vehicle is 20 years of age. That is the position in Kerry. I do not know whether it is the case in every other county but those are the rules Bus Éireann operates in Kerry. The witnesses can confirm or deny it but there is a rumour going around that Bus Éireann is using buses that are older than 20 years. The rumour is that is the case in different areas of Cork and perhaps parts of Kerry.

I cannot understand how the RSA could write to the Department and say there are buses that are not up to standard because all contractors' buses in Kerry have to comply with all these regulations. I am sure that is the case throughout the country. It is very unfair. There are many good bus contractors who are providing a service but their contracts for the next five years have been cut to the bone. They are operating fewer services now than in the past five years. I do not know how they will continue. Many of them will not because, as the witnesses know, fuel costs and many other costs are escalating every day. In terms of the price the contractor is getting, I do not know where that will end up. Their buses may be older and they would get newer buses if they were getting remunerated properly. Notwithstanding all that, their buses are being tested. They pass every hurdle in that regard, and I say that without fear or favour.

Many operators are very hurt by this RSA report because if there is a problem with a bus, the RSA demands that it must be sorted out. With the state of the roads, however, a spring on a bus can break any day and one has to get it repaired. The bus might leave whichever test centre it is in today, be it the MOT centre, the FTA test centre or the RSA test centre, and something can happen with the vehicle the next day. Mirrors are being blown off buses travelling up and down country roads, at €1,000 a pop to replace, and no one is doing anything about it. We highlighted the problem to our so-called Minister. If a load of hay is being carried down the road and it knocks a branch off a tree, it can easily fall on the bus or car following it. The wrong message was sent out in the middle of last month about private bus contractors and their operations. I am very interested to hear what the witnesses have to say about those issues.

Regarding concessionary tickets, every Deputy from every constituency knows there are people in poor financial circumstances and they are unable to pay the concessionary ticket until the last minute. This year, many of them found that they no longer had a place on the bus. That was very unfair.

My next question is for the Department.