Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I concur with what Senator Kyne's comments on school transport. There is an issue with school transport in my area and the same probably applies in every part of the country. In my own area there are children who have no school transport, yet we have people who are fully licensed and medically fit to drive buses. They can drive long distances to Cork, Dublin and Galway but they are not allowed to drive a school bus to their local secondary school. Such a scenario does not make sense to me. We need to discuss the matter with trade unions in Bus Éireann who seem to have a stranglehold on the fact that every bus driver must be under 70 years of age and I will give an example. My uncle owns a transport company. As he is over 70 years of age, he must get his son to drive ten miles to their local school to drop the kids while he can drive a bus to Cork or Galway and can bring children to a school football match or whatever; he is medically fit to drive a bus. It does not make sense. Kids are being left at home and that should not happen.

I concur with Senator Mullen, who has just left, because I, too, am concerned about the independence of the commission. The three-day waiting period needs to be looked at. In any review, including a legislative review, one analyses both sides and listen to everybody but I do not think that has happened in this case. We need to examine the matter again and listen to everybody.