School Transport
Seanad Éireann — 2026-05-20
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Charlie McConalogue (FF), Donegal

I thank Senator Scahill. I have been asked by the Minister of State with responsibility for school transport, Deputy Michael Moynihan, to take this matter on his behalf this morning. He apologises that he is not available to do so himself. I certainly will relay the conversation back and the discussion that we have on it here this morning and the particular point the Senator is making in relation to those who drive buses for special education students in terms of that particular challenge, which is not included so far. I will relay that back following on from the discussion this morning. Now, I will lay out the position from the Department in terms of the official response here from the Department of Education and Youth, which is responsible for the school transport scheme. It is managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department. The scheme is operated using a mix of Bus Éireann-owned vehicles and directly recruited drivers and private contractors that recruit their own drivers to operate the scheme. In the current school year, more than 181,000 children are transported daily to primary, post-primary and special schools throughout the country. Included in this figure are close to 25,000 children travelling on the school transport scheme for children with special educational needs.
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 programme for Government a commitment was made to "Carry out an independent assessment on the feasibility of removing the exclusion of drivers aged over 70 from the School Transport Scheme". The Department of Education and Youth engaged with Bus Éireann and the Department of Transport 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 is now complete. Bus Éireann has no plans to amend the driver age limit for larger vehicles.
To consider fully all vehicles, Bus Éireann secured independent external consultants to undertake an independent analysis of the safety considerations, criteria and feasibility of raising the maximum driving age of drivers of small public service vehicles contracted to deliver school transport services under the school transport scheme. The review of the upper age limit of drivers as it relates to smaller vehicles has now been completed. Following this review, Bus Éireann has advised of an extension to the upper age limit of drivers from the age of 70 to 72, for a trial period. This extension will apply to drivers of small public service vehicles, which have a maximum of eight seats and a driver, who are contracted by Bus Éireann under the school transport scheme. Bus Éireann further advises that this decision follows extensive research, stakeholder engagement and a thorough safety review undertaken by Bus Éireann. The trial period for this extension of the driver age limit is for two years, beginning from the start of the new school year in September 2026 and ending at the conclusion of the 2027-28 school year in June 2028. Under the revised policy, enhanced safety measures will be implemented whereby drivers over 70 years of age are required to undertake an additional six-month medical fitness assessment. Contractor compliance with conditions associated with the change to this policy will be monitored by Bus Éireann for the duration of the trial. Bus Éireann advises that this policy change will remain under continuous review throughout the two-year trial period, with a further evaluation conducted at its conclusion to determine whether the extended age limit should be maintained or discontinued.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-05-20/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:58+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-20