The Minister of State is very welcome to the House this afternoon. Over recent years, I have frequently raised the issue of the retirement age of 70 years old for Bus Éireann drivers. Today, I raise it again, seeking an update. This practice discriminates against people who are capable of providing a valuable service, and a much-needed one at that. Many people, me included, feel it is unfair that drivers are not able to continue to drive a bus after their 70th birthday under Bus Éireann contracts. These people may be perfectly fit, perfectly healthy and be medically assessed and licensed to drive a bus, but they cannot do so because Bus Éireann's one-size-fits-all policy means anybody over 70 years of age is considered unfit to drive a bus.

This is a discriminatory and ageist policy that needs to be addressed and re-examined. A cohort of people are fit and well, have been medically assessed and are fully licenced but, unfortunately, they are prohibited from driving under a Bus Éireann school contract because of their age. There is no problem with a 70-year-old driving a school bus in the UK or in other jurisdictions but it seems to be a problem with us here, as far as Bus Éireann is concerned.

Many of the people doing this work have retired from their full-time occupation and are happy to drive a school bus. It is not overly taxing, in that it is not a 40-hour or 50-hour week process. We are talking about an hour and a half or so in the morning, and the same in the afternoon. It is not 52 weeks of the year. It follows the academic year, so there is a good bit of time off in that regard. Surely the same medical assessment carried out by Bus Éireann for a 69-year-old who is then subsequently deemed fit to drive could be authorised for a 70-year-old or 71-year-old. The ironic part of all of this, as the Minister of State will be well aware, is that the same 70-year-old or 71-year-old can drive those schoolchildren to a football match 150 miles away and take them home, yet they are not allowed to take them to school in the morning and bring them back home again in the evening. It does not make sense and is not logical.

Every September, we have issues here with school transport in that there is a shortage of drivers. Here, we have a cohort of people who are willing, able and fully licensed to do a good job on behalf of the State and to provide a valuable service, but they are prohibited from doing so. I have been asking that common sense be adopted in Bus Éireann's thinking on this matter. It seems to be possible in other jurisdictions but, unfortunately, that has fallen on deaf ears.

I understand that during the Minister of State's time, he has been instrumental in reviewing the situation as regards large coaches, and I understand the medical evidence coming back from that - perhaps he might elaborate on this - was to the effect that for large vehicles, there could be a higher risk. However, the same argument applies for Bus Éireann-operated services and private-operated services. Surely for smaller vehicles, there would be less risk. If we allowed those people to do that, they would provide an invaluable service where we are short on drivers.

Deputy Moynihan is a common-sense Minister of State with a get-up-and-do attitude, so I hope this common sense will be extended to Bus Éireann in order that 70-year-olds who are fully fit, fully licensed and want to do the job can be allowed to do that valuable service.

I thank the Minister of State for coming in. Before he responds, I wish to acknowledge and welcome two groups of visitors from Wexford and Laois with the Ceann Comhairle, Verona Murphy, and Deputy William Aird. They are very welcome. Normally, school-going visitors do not get any homework, but they look as though their schooldays are over, so they will just have to suck it up.

I thank Senator Gallagher for raising the issue. I will go through a few brief points first.

The school transport scheme is a hugely significant operation run by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education and Youth. The retirement age for school bus drivers has been set by Bus Éireann at 70 years of age, which also applies to all Bus Éireann road passenger services. The policy and criteria also apply to drivers nominated by private operators who operate services as part of the school transport scheme, provided they hold the licence and satisfy the annual medical examination until they retire at 70 years of age.

A commitment was given under the new programme for Government to "Carry out an independent assessment on the feasibility of removing the exclusion of drivers aged over 70 from the School Transport Scheme". Both I and the Department of education have continued to engage with the Department of Transport and Bus Éireann on this matter. The Road Safety Authority, under the remit of the Department of Transport, committed to reviewing the upper age limit of drivers as it relates to larger vehicles and school buses. This review has been completed. To fully consider all vehicles, Bus Éireann has secured its own independent analysis of the issue in the context of small public service vehicles contracted to deliver school transport services under the school transport scheme. As it is a Bus Éireann policy in the first instance, this analysis is being considered by Bus Éireann, and I and the Department of education await the decision.

I fully understand the points the Senator has made about the over-70s. It has long been discussed and the Senator has raised it quite a number of times in this House. On my appointment to the Department last year, it was an issue we wanted to get clarity on. Our issue was the August 2024 report that was there. We set up a departmental task force with the Departments of education and Transport, Bus Éireann and Education and Training Boards Ireland. The aim of the task force is to work together to identify the factors. The school transport scheme is a huge operation on behalf of the State every year, and the Senator will know from his county that we have serious challenges getting drivers and buses for particular routes. While we see the issue with the over-70s and the transport issue we are facing, I assure the Senator that the Department of education and I, together with the Department of Transport and Bus Éireann, are working very much together to try to find a solution to this. It is with the board of Bus Éireann and there is ongoing engagement with it. It is a fundamental decision Bus Éireann has to take. The points are always well made about how changing the rules would allow us to have a greater cohort of people able to drive school buses. The points the Senator made about how these people have retired from their main jobs are extremely valuable. I have reflected on all that very carefully and it is important that we bring clarity to this as soon as possible for smaller vehicles that are providing services to the school transport system. I will update the House when a decision is made on it. I might refer to another point or two in my closing statement.

I thank the Minister of State very much for his response. I welcome the fact the review is complete and hope we are getting near to the endgame with this. We cannot lose sight of the common-sense approach to all matters, and there is a very common-sense approach to this issue. Nobody is talking about being reckless here. Individuals of 70 years of age and older will have to pass the necessary medicals, have the necessary licence in place and all that. Surely to God we can find a role for those people who are fit, active and want to play a vital role for society by taking children to school and back in the mornings and evenings. This has been going on for a while - not during the Minister of State's reign, I hasten to add, and I know he is trying to progress it - but when will we have a decision, which I hope will be a positive one, on this issue?

There are a number of issues we are considering as well.

The issue is in cases where someone driving a school bus is 69 years of age but turns 70 during the school year. We must look carefully as to whether it is possible to extend those drivers until they are in their 70th year or turn 71. For those individuals who are driving from September to June but turn 70 in October or February, for example, we must look at the possibility of extending that in the first instance.

A lot of work has been carried out with regard to the smaller vehicles. It is safe to say that I meet the school transport people on a weekly basis to ensure we are up to speed on where the issues are in relation to school transport. We will be opening the portal shortly again for the September 2026 school year.

This is always an issue. The Senator has raised it a number of times in the House and with me as well. I am acutely aware this would open possibilities for us. I hope we will have a decision sooner rather than later because it is important that we bring clarity in this regard. The challenges we have are the previous reports, but we have a cross-departmental look at it. I will endeavour to report back to the Senator when a decision is made.