Bus driver age limit and school places
Deputy O'Donoghue objected to Bus Éireann’s age limit for drivers, while Deputy Whitmore raised repeated school place shortages in Wicklow. The Taoiseach said he would ask the Transport and Education Ministers to engage and seek practical fixes.
Two Deputies are left. We are out of time. I will ask the Deputies to briefly state their questions. We will have a combined response from the Taoiseach.
Comment on this
The maximum age for Bus Éireann bus drivers is 70. At the moment, our children cannot get to school because private operators with contracts with Bus Éireann cannot take them to school if their drivers are over 70. However, these drivers, even if they are over 70, can be called by the school to take children to a tour of the Dáil. The same bus driver who cannot take our children to school can take them anywhere in the country, but Bus Éireann will not allow that driver take those children to school under its contract.
Comment on this
Schools are getting ready to close for the summer but yet again, in County Wicklow, a number of students and children do not have places for September. I am aware of seven in Greystones. A small number in Newtownmountkennedy and Ashford do not have places for September either. This is a problem every year. It is really unfair on students. Will the Taoiseach send a departmental liaison to meet with the parents and schools to resolve this issue? Ultimately, we need a common enrolment process in these areas to solve this problem once and for all. In the meantime, will the Taoiseach send someone there to get this sorted because this is not fair on students?
Comment on this
I agree with Deputy O'Donoghue and sympathise with his point. I will again talk to the Minister for Transport on this and ask him to engage with Bus Éireann to get this issue sorted. Chronological age is meaningless as a metric. It can be general but it is meaningless. There could be a very fit 75-year-old and an unfit 65-year-old. To borrow the phrase again, we need a little common sense applied here.
On Deputy Whitmore's point, I will talk to the Minister for Education in respect of the specifics in County Wicklow. There are common enrolment systems in some parts of the country as regards general enrolments, but the Deputy said one is required in Wicklow. Is the Deputy talking about general enrolment?