Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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759. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will review the licensing process for aspiring bus and tour drivers to reduce red tape and costs to the persons involved, in view of the fact both are acting as a deterrent to seeking to qualify to drive and leading to a shortage of available drivers for the industry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9753/17]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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​There are two forms of legal requirement in order for people to drive a bus and carry passengers for reward. These are the requirement to obtain a driving licence and the requirement to obtain a Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC).

In both cases, the requirements are set at EU rather than national level.  I cannot therefore amend them. However, I should point out that the requirements set at EU level are based on the need to ensure safety, and must be all the more stringent in view of the safety responsibility involved in driving large vehicles containing passengers. Seen in that light, the requirements set by the EU are reasonable and by no means excessive.

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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760. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will review the rules governing the amount of time a bus driver can operate a vehicle here in competition with a driver from Northern Ireland; if he will examine other inconsistencies in the law which make tour driving restrictive here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9754/17]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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​The objectives of the EU drivers' hours rules are to improve road safety by managing fatigue, to harmonise competition, and to improve working conditions and working practices for drivers in road transport.

My officials have consulted with the Road Safety Authority, the agency responsible for the enforcement of drivers' hours rules. The RSA has provided the information below, which I hope you will find useful.

The drivers' hours rules applying to coach drivers are contained in EU Regulation 561 of 2006, and the same rules apply throughout the EU. 

While in the main these are the same for both truck and coach drivers, EU Regulation 1073 of 2009 introduced an amendment to EU Regulation 561 of 2006 to facilitate international coach operators, allowing coach drivers to avail of postponing their weekly rest for a period of 12 days, subject to conditions as follows:

1.the service lasts at least 24 consecutive hours in a Member State or a third country to which this Regulation applies other than the one in which the service started;

2. the driver takes after the use of the derogation:

1. either two regular weekly rest periods; or

2. one regular weekly rest period and one reduced weekly rest period of at least 24 hours. However, the reduction shall be compensated by an equivalent period of rest taken en bloc before the end of the third week following the end of the derogation period;

3. after 1 January 2014, the vehicle is equipped with recording equipment in accordance with the requirements of Annex IB to Regulation (EEC) No 3821/85; and

4. after 1 January 2014, if driving during the period from 22.00 to 06.00, the vehicle is multi-manned or the driving period referred to in Article 7 is reduced to three hours.

Additional information is available at the following link: .

For clarification, the same rules govern coach drivers whose journey start in Northern Ireland and enter Ireland as cover those whose journey starts in Ireland and enter Northern Ireland.