School bus services being suspended due to a lack of drivers has come to the fore in Cavan this week after students in Shercock were left stranded when a replacement driver could not be secured by Bus Eireann. Paddy Gallogly from Carrickmacross is a former inspector with the company who is now retired because the retirement age for school bus drivers set by Bus Éireann is 70 years of age.
He has worked for Bus Eireann for 40 years. In a statement to Shannonside Northern Sound, the company said the decision to operate the scheme with drivers up to age 70 is grounded in the best safe interests of the young children, its drivers and other road users.
"The retirement age for school bus drivers has been set by Bus Éireann at 70 years of age, which also applies to road passenger services," a spokesperson continued. "Our decision to operate the scheme with drivers up to age 70 is grounded in the best safe interests of the young children, our drivers and other road users.
"Our operating experience, together with our ongoing consultation with stakeholders including the Road Safety Authority (RSA) and other public transport operators in relation to Safety First is that our current policy balances the overarching need for safety, with the risk and the operational needs of the scheme.
"In acting in the best interest of the safe operation of the Scheme, we have also reviewed external studies, which show how risk of collision is increased for drivers of large vehicles over the age of 70. Our judgement is that this is not a risk that should be taken give the scale of the scheme - now delivering over 9,000 routes in the country. The safe transport of the 150,000 children availing of the School Transport Scheme remains our first priority."
Mr Gallogly, meanwhile, says that if the age stipulation wasn't in place, there would be enough drivers to run the services. "There are lots more like me; it's not just my story," he added. "That would take the burden of Bus Eireann for school bus drivers.
"For instance when a bus driver is off sick of for any reason, there would be a person on stand by ready to go who only wants to work maybe two days a week or maybe the full five days. But, they would be there and there would be no school children let down. It's happening all the time now; if a bus driver goes off sick for some reason or another, they have nobody to replace them."
