Mr. Stephen Kent:

We operate in Dublin. Under the Department of Education scheme, we operate throughout the country. Therefore, the scale is huge, and we are trying to take that into account. We are transporting children. In this context, informed external studies we have examined point to a higher risk. The risk multiplies. A question arises as to why we would do it. Our company has been successful in recruiting 323 drivers this year for our road passenger services, so we know we can do it. However, we must continue to work with the contractors because the school transport scheme is expanding.

We transferred 120,000 children in 2018 and this year it is 160,000 children. That is a brilliant story. Everybody needs to plan for it and we are making the judgment based on safety first.