Senator Robbie Gallagher has welcomed changes announced this week to bus driver age limits.
The retirement age for some bus drivers is now set to increase to 72 from next September in order to combat a transport shortage that is particularly pronounced in rural areas.
While the age has increased, drivers of small public service vehicles will only be allowed to carry up to eight passengers on a two-year trial basis beginning in September.
Speaking to Northern Sound, Senator Gallagher hopes that learnings from this two year pilot will help extend the number of passengers allowed to be carried in the future, which would be of huge benefit to rural schools due to the chronic shortage of school bus drivers.
Senator Gallagher explained: "This change follows the review involving Bus Eireann, the Department of Education and the Department of Transport and recruitment campaigns for drivers to combat a shortage caused by retirements and growing demand. The school transport scheme operates across 10,000 routes with 178,000 pupils every school day.
“This measure will help maintain vital services across the country and will help ensure continuity of school transport services, particularly in rural areas where driver availability has become a real challenge. Experienced drivers are the backbone of school transport. The extension will apply to smaller vehicles and will be closely monitored over the trial period. A full review will be carried out before any decision is made on longer-term changes."
