I raise again the issue of school bus drivers. Drivers and bus companies are on to me constantly. They are completely exasperated about the age limit that applies to school bus drivers. Under a recent change, people can hold a driver licence up to the age of 75 years without a medical report. School bus drivers are pensioners in the vast majority of cases. Driving a school bus part-time is excellent for their mental health and financially. They can drive a tourist bus from Donegal to Cork but they cannot drive a school bus a couple of kilometres around their own homes. Before next August and the season when we get into trouble over having buses on school routes, I urge Bus Éireann to revisit its decision and remove this anomaly. We fully accept that bus drivers should have a medical check to determine competence at six-month intervals but surely this rule has to be revisited.

I agree with the Deputy, basically. I think he has articulated the case very well. There is a shortage of drivers. Obviously, Bus Éireann wants to make sure the safety situation is correct and it has resisted making that change, in its view, in the interests of safety. The world has changed dramatically in relation to life expectancy and people are now in a position to work at ages we would have considered inconceivable 20 years ago. The world has changed and with the appropriate procedures, we should be able to facilitate older people to work, particularly in the school bus context.