Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I must say I agree with the Deputy. This is a bizarre situation where somebody over the age of 70 can drive kids in a private bus to the soccer or GAA game at the weekend but cannot drive them to school in a Bus Éireann bus. It is either safe or it is not safe and the inconsistency in relation to this is quite farcical and annoying at a time when we are trying to get more drivers. I have raised this myself. I do not mean to say this in a way that infuriates the Deputy but it is, in the first instance, a matter for Bus Éireann. My colleague, the new Minister of State with responsibility for transport, intends to pursue this. There are people who are perfectly healthy and fit and well able to drive buses and the idea that they can drive any bus other than a Bus Éireann bus does not cut the mustard with me.

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