In order to prevent a shortage of school bus drivers this August or, as it may be in some cases, September when schools reopen, I call on the Government to intervene immediately with Bus Éireann and the RSA, which advises on policy, to try to deal with the current policy whereby people cannot remain on as drivers after reaching 70 years of age. The policy is discriminatory and counterproductive and will mean that we will have a shortage of drivers if we do not act now. As far back as March, I wrote to the transport committee asking for Bus Éireann to appear before it, but to the best of my knowledge, there has been no progress. Will the Government intervene now? If 70-year-olds are medically fit, they should be given the choice to remain in the workforce. This issue needs urgent attention.

I instinctively agree with the Deputy. I know this causes a lot of issues in many constituencies and counties, including my own, where there is someone who is willing and able to drive the bus but is told that, because of an arbitrary age on his or her birth certificate, he or she cannot drive the bus. It is offensive to those individuals and is problematic for our constituents who are trying to get their children to school.

In fairness to the Minister, Deputy Foley, she has done a major overhaul of school transport. It will take a number of years to implement, but it will start this September. One of the issues she was going to examine specifically was engagement with Bus Éireann as to the rationale behind the policy and whether there were reasons that we did not fully comprehend. I will ask the Minister to revert to the Deputy on that matter.