Mr. Stephen Kent:

It is a Bus Éireann policy that we are doing in the interests of safety, foremost. It is around risk mitigation; it is as simple as that. It is nothing more than having safety at the core of what we think is a great judgment. It is a judgment between trying to figure out how to deliver what might be a short-term request or need for more resources versus the longer-term horizon. We used the phrase "students" but I deliberately use the phrase "children" because the task we are charged with is making sure that everybody is delivered safely to school and we try to do that in the best way possible. Every contract we bring in and everybody who would be engaged in a contract knows in advance that 70 years is the maximum age we are trying to operate to under the scheme. That means that people coming up to 70 years know they have to plan for it. We have extended the age in the company as drivers used to retire at 66. They have an opportunity to work to 70 now but fewer than five do.