Fianna Fáil Local Election Candidate, Councillor Aoife McCooey, has called for the school bus driver age limit to be reviewed in a bid to tackle shortage of drivers in Co Monaghan. Cllr McCooey, who is running in the Carrickmacross-Castleblayney LEA on June 7, said the upper age of limit of 70 years for drivers of school buses needs to be examined given people over 70s are permitted to drive for private operators. The School Transport Scheme is a managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education at a cost of about €382 million per year. In the current school year over 161,600 children, including over 135,000 pupils travelling on primary and post primary services, 19,800 pupils with special educational needs, and 6,800 pupils who have arrived to Ireland from Ukraine are transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country.
In a statement issued to Northern Sound, Cllr McCooey said; "School children are being driven to extra circular activities by drivers over the age of 70 who are working for private operators, but these same drivers are not permitted to drive school buses. It doesn't make any sense. People over the age of 70 should be allowed to continue to drive over the age of 70 once they pass an annual medical check up. A requirement for medical clearance would alleviate any concerns about health and safety being compromised. I urge Minister for Education Norma Foley to conduct a review at the earliest opportunity in a bid to address the shortage of drivers and in the process speed up the implementation of reforms. I support a recruitment drive to employ more bus drivers. Allowing people over the age of 70 would help the situation as drivers are currently in short supply. We need to ensure that this matter is addressed ahead of the coming academic year – otherwise we won’t have enough drivers to operate the School Transport Scheme come September."
