Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We seem to have two different rules. We are allowed to serve in the Houses of the Oireachtas when we are aged over 70 years, yet I have a colleague in Carlow who is not allowed to drive a school bus. Bus Éireann operates the school transport scheme and has a system whereby bus drivers who reach the age of 65 years and express a desire to continue to drive can work for a further five years if they pass the medical reviews. However, when they reach 70 years of age, they must retire from that employment. This is ageism and discrimination. A great driver in my constituency of Carlow is particularly aggrieved by this rule.

Will the Leader ask the Minister why this appears to be acceptable in Ireland today? We are living longer and are certainly able to work for longer. The absence of legislation on health checks for public service drivers should be addressed as a means of dealing with this. We must examine ways of allowing people who want to work and are able to work to do so. A person does not reach the rubbish heap in his or her 70th year and we should not make anybody feel that this is the case. It is unfair to have a system in which a person is not allowed to drive a Bus Éireann school bus when he or she reaches the age of 70 years, yet that person can be a Member of the Oireachtas at any age, which is good and welcome. It is not right and we must ensure it is not allowed to happen. I ask the Leader to invite the Minister to the House to address it. I also ask him to bring this matter to the Minister's attention.