Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 29 November 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport

Bus Services in Counties Dublin, Kildare, Meath and Wicklow: Discussion

Mr. Stephen Kent:

We are doing everything we can in terms of planning. As I said, there has been huge demand for the scheme that we have. It came about, in particular in the school transport scheme, when the fees were reduced for a period and they were then restored. The growth is phenomenal. A significant communication campaign is definitely required with the contractors going forward. We are working through on that. We are also campaigning at the moment on our own direct provision. We have been trying to recruit people who are B class licence holders and to convert them into D class licence holders. That is an extensive campaign. This year alone, we have conducted more than 40 open days in trying to bring in drivers into the company but we will only get so far on that scene. In regard to contractors, when we look at the scale of what we are bringing in, today we are dealing with more than 6,500 contractors. That is a much greater number than we ever had in the past. We have got to make sure there are communications lines in that regard. The Department of Education is currently reviewing the scheme and we are all expecting an expansion of it, but probably in a phased way so we can grow into it.

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