Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I concur wholeheartedly with what you have said, a Cheann Comhairle, in this regard. The criticism you have raised about there being no mention of Wicklow is valid. Equally, I am grappling with what the Deputy articulated in my constituency in Limerick.

What is being experienced in County Wicklow is the same in Limerick. We are trying to work through that. The Deputy did not mention it but the reply prepared for me mentions the issue of the shortage of drivers. It has been raised by everybody around this House and I am happy to raise the fact that when a person reaches 70 they are not allowed to drive for Bus Éireann. It is crazy. I have never heard Bus Éireann offer an explanation for it to anybody. There can be the farcical situation in which students are transported to and from school in a bus which has to be driven by a man or woman aged under 70 but in the middle of the day, they could take a tour to the Dáil and the Houses of the Oireachtas in a bus driven by a man or woman who could be 85. It does not make sense. Bus Éireann, which is charged with running the scheme, needs to take a long hard look at that. I will convey to the Minister for Education the sentiments expressed by the Deputy.

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