Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Office of the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this issue, which has been raised in the House many times in recent years. It relates to the inconsistency whereby school bus drivers who reach the age of 70 years are no longer able to transport children to and from schools, although these same bus drivers may transport children from the same school on a school tour to the furthest distance possible, for instance, driving school children on a school tour from Carlow to Donegal and back on the same day. There is no logical reason why the same bus driver may not transport children to and from schools on a route that they probably know better than anyone.

It is a contradiction that the school bus driver who knows the area is not in a position to do that. It is ageist that the day he or she turns 70 years, the driver must immediately forfeit that route due to his or her age. Currently, we are encouraging able-bodied people to work longer. We have an ageing population and we will have to work longer. There is a contradiction where someone who is capable, knows the area and the students best and most likely is in a position to look after those children better than anyone else may not do so.

I accept and appreciate that getting children to and from school is a very important chore and that when people are older, there is a requirement for periodic medical certification to ensure they are capable. It is discrimination, however, against people who have reached 70 years. The Minister of State has given the same response to several Deputies. I ask him to consider a situation whereby when a driver reaches 70 years, he or she must undergo a medical test on an annual basis, in order that such drivers will be certified capable of driving the children they know best on the school bus on the routes they know best. It is not too much to ask where we have people who are able. The local school bus route, particularly in rural Ireland, suits a person who is retired who knows the area. Annual testing and certification would allow such people to continue doing the jobs they are capable of doing. This is discrimination which needs to be addressed. Enabling older people to get out in the community is good for their health and mental well-being, particularly when they are arguably better than anyone else to look after children on those routes.

Will the Minister review the situation in order that the exclusion of those aged 70 years and over is not set in stone and that there is flexibility for a driver to be able to continue to drive a school bus in a safe manner, once he or she has passed a medical test?

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I will begin by giving an outline of the extent of the school transport service.

School transport is a significant service. At present, more than 116,000 children, including more than 12,000 children with special educational needs, are being transported by approximately 4,500 vehicles each day to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country, covering over 100 million km annually at a total cost of almost €190 million in 2017.

As the Deputy is aware, Bus Éireann operates the school transport scheme on behalf of the Department. It has advised that the minimum age for school bus drivers is 23 years and that candidates must have at least two years' driving experience. In response to the expressed wishes of many school bus drivers - including those employed by Bus Éireann and drivers for private school bus contractors - who wanted to remain in their positions upon reaching retirement age at 66 years, and following the advice of the medical department of Bus Éireann, the company decided to alter the compulsory retirement age for school bus drivers who provide services under the school transport scheme in order to enable experienced personnel to remain in their positions for a maximum of four more years if desired. School bus drivers who opt to remain on after reaching 66 years of age may do so up to the age of 70, if they are satisfied to do so, subject to an annual medical review and once they continue to hold the requisite driving licence. That is the position as it stands. Bus Éireann has further advised that the opinion of its chief medical officer is that, given the demanding and safety-critical nature of school bus driving, 70 is an appropriate age at which to retire from such employment.

I accept and understand that because they are living longer, people want to work longer. That is the case in many types of employment. However, we have a huge responsibility when dealing with the general public, particularly children. As far as I know, at present it is not within my remit to make alterations in this regard. The compulsory retirement age is based on the opinion of the chief medical officer. This scheme is directed by Bus Éireann under the auspices of my Department. As the Deputy has suggested, there may be other drivers - and I am not saying there are not, there probably are - who are driving cars. There may also be other bus drivers driving private school transport. Such drivers do not operate under this scheme, however. I receive advice and, as Minister of State with responsibility for the 116,000 children who are transported all around the country every year, I am sometimes obliged to take the advice of the chief medical officer. Right now, that is the advice he has given me. I have no problem going back to the chief medical officer and asking him again to give me the substantial medical reasons as to why he reached that decision and to tell me when he reached that decision. I may be wrong, but I believe it was in 2001.

Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I very much appreciate that the school bus service is a very important and integral part of rural Ireland. We know that there have been issues around it in recent years and I thank the Minister of State for his engagement in that regard and for bringing the issues to a reasonable conclusion. With regard to the substantive issue, as I mentioned in my opening remarks, I appreciate how demanding and responsible the job is. Over a number of years, we have seen some fatalities with regard to school buses. It is important that my child, the Minister of State's child or anybody else's child gets to his or her destination safe and sound and gets home in the evening in the very same way once the school day is over.

The substantive issue with regard to the point I made is that we have an aging population. There are now people who are capable of working longer and who want to do so. They should be given the opportunity to work longer and should not be discriminated against. I met a couple of bus drivers in my area in Carlow in recent weeks. One individual had been driving buses all his life. Previously, he had been a lorry driver for Cómhlucht Siúicre Éireann. He is very used to driving around the country. He has been discriminated against. He drives for a local bus company and has taken kids on their school tour from a rural part of Carlow to Cork for the day. That is approximately 240 miles to 250 miles. At the same time, he is not allowed to bring the school kids on the school route, which would only be about 15 miles or 20 miles, on a daily basis. I would appreciate it if, as he suggested, the Minister of State went back to the chief medical officer and asked him the criteria and rationale behind what he has suggested. If there was some flexibility in that regard, it would be very useful for everybody.

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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I thank the Deputy again. Obviously, I recognise that he is concerned with the safety and health of the 116,000 children, including 12,000 with special needs, who are transported around the country every year, sometimes in poor conditions. I accept that. When somebody is driving and has responsibility for the general public - particularly for schoolchildren and so on - the Department, Bus Éireann and I, as Minister of State, have a critical responsibility to review all medical evidence available and to be careful in every decision we make. There are criteria laid down for all drivers. I will not go through them today because it they not relevant to this particular question. However, the medical officer said that, given the demanding and safety-critical nature of the job, he deemed 70 an appropriate age. However, as I have told the Deputy, I will go back to the medical officer and ask him the criteria which were laid down and when the decision was made. I have no problem doing that. Now that I think of it, I was correct. That decision was made in 2001. Perhaps it needs to be looked at. I cannot say that in my capacity as Minister of State, however. I am obliged to take on board what the chief medical officer appointed by Bus Éireann says as it is in control of the service. I will certainly revert to the Deputy when I have spoken to the chief medical officer.