Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 March 2026
477. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Education and Youth the number of school transport drivers who have been required to cease driving upon reaching the age of 70 in each of the past three years; the projected number expected to be affected in the next two years, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16863/26]
View answer478. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Education and Youth the extent to which the mandatory upper age limit of 70 for school transport drivers is contributing to driver shortages; the assessment her Department has undertaken in this regard; the contingency measures in place to maintain continuity of service; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16864/26]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 477 and 478 together.
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.
Under the new Programme for Government (PFG), Government has committed to "Carry out an independent assessment on the feasibility of removing the exclusion of drivers aged over 70 from the School Transport Scheme". My Department is continuing to engage with the Department of Transport and with Bus Éireann on this PfG commitment.
The School Transport Scheme is operated using a mix of Bus Éireann owned vehicles and directly recruited drivers, and private contractors who recruit their own drivers to operate on the scheme.
Over 90% of school bus services are provided by private contractors; each contractor recruits school vehicle drivers directly. On that basis, data on the ages of contracted drivers is not readily available. This can be because contractors may nominate more drivers than necessary to drive contractor vehicles so they have driver replacement cover for short term absences. Data on drivers that are directly employed by Bus Éireann is provided in the attached table.
The Department of Transport has also indicated that the wider public transport sector has faced a number of challenges with regard to the recruitment of drivers and mechanics/craftworkers in the last 12-18 months.
As part of a national focus on driver requirements, the Department of Education and Youth has facilitated a working group with the Department of Transport, Bus Éireann, and Education and Training Boards Ireland (ETBI) to discuss the challenges and to action possible solutions to increase the availability of drivers. This group established a communications subgroup, enabled the continuation of a collaboration between Bus Éireann and ETBI at a local level.
Arising from the work mentioned above, the Department of Transport has established a Public Transport Workforce Taskforce to identify options to assist with resolving these issues.
The taskforce is chaired by the Department of Transport, which will meet on a monthly basis, and includes representatives from the school transport section in my Department, relevant transport operators and agencies, and training bodies.
The aim of the taskforce is to work collaboratively to identify contributing factors to the recruitment issues and put forward recommendations and measures to create a pipeline of workers to address these issues.
37 drivers exited the company in the last three years from 2023-2025 inclusive on reaching the upper age limit of 70
|
|
2026 |
2027 |
2028 |
|
Number of Bus Éireann school drivers that will exit on reaching 70 years of age |
6 |
10 |
18 |
