Mr. David Conway:

If I may, I will speak on some of the other initiatives that could be explored. Senator Dooley specifically asked what other jurisdictions are doing. Generally, we do not tend to benchmark ourselves much against the Continent where people drive on the opposite side of the road and there are various other differences. The UK has always been a natural benchmark. Many years ago, if I wanted to start driving a truck, I could qualify for a HGV licence as soon as I reached my 18th birthday but I could not get a bus or coach licence until I was 21. This means we lose young people with a passion for driving to the haulage industry. They may come back in later years and I will speak separately on that in a moment. The UK had a scheme where younger drivers could qualify for a bus or coach licence at 18 years but the geographical territory they could cover was restricted to 50 miles. The UK is now finding that this restriction is too constrained. Even if we in this jurisdiction were to take that step in the first instance, the UK is already examining it because it is finding it too restrictive.

If we go to the opposite end of the scale, there are many older drivers who are still extremely fit and able and want to drive, work and contribute to society. However, 70 years is the maximum age on school contracts. No one aged a day over 70 can be put on what we describe as a Bus Éireann contract because the company administers the Department of Education's school transport scheme.