Tom Shehan (Fine Gael)

I support my colleagues who raised the issue of elder abuse. As an addendum I am keen for the Minister of State with responsibility for older people to be brought before the House to discuss the issue of ageism and elder discrimination. Recently, I was contacted by a constituent who works as a private contractor and who has a contract with Bus Éireann. The fact he is 70 years of age means he can no longer collect children and bring them to school. He has a private indemnity arrangement and public liability insurance but because he is 70 years of age, he cannot drive the school bus. Nevertheless, he can sit into a 53 seater coach and drive it to Dublin. He spends one hour in the morning collecting children, as he has done for the past 50 years without any tarnish on his licence or otherwise. I believe this is ageism of the worst type and, coming from a semi-State body, it is wrong, incorrect and should be rectified. If this is a matter of policy, we need to change it. The person in question provides his own indemnity and public liability arrangements. This is a matter of elder discrimination. I call for the Minister of State responsible to be brought before the House to have a debate on ageism and elder discrimination.