Mr. Tomás Ó Ruairc:

My colleagues will want to respond to some of those questions but I will respond to the question on the registration process. Bus Éireann can give more details on this but we must remember that the scheme is massive in terms of volume. Approximately 172,000 children and young people availed of the scheme in the last school year alone. There are significant challenges in terms of procurement timelines to be observed in the context of the kick-off of the school year. Notwithstanding all of that, it all happens in the year preceding the new school year. The procurement process that is required speaks in part to the Senator's first question on the 5% and 95% but Mr. Kent will add further clarity on that.

On the question of the over-70s, that was discussed earlier. The position is that there is a commitment in the programme for Government to conduct an independent review of that. We are liaising with our colleagues in the Department of Transport and in Bus Éireann in relation to that commitment. The Senator will be aware that there is a report from the Committee of Public Accounts on the review conducted previously by the Road Safety Authority, RSA, written by Professor Desmond O'Neill, an expert in the area of elder drivers. That report highlighted a number of risk factors that are absolutely critical in considering the issue of drivers aged over 70 more broadly. I assume that will add further to the work that has happened in the meantime. I will ask Mr. Kent to add to my comments now.