Danny Healy-Rae challenges age and bus rules hurting school transport
Danny Healy-Rae raised concerns in a parliamentary session about school transport rules, arguing they unfairly sideline experienced drivers and take serviceable buses off the road. He urged the minister to rethink mandatory retirement at 70, the 20-year bus limit and repeat vetting requirements that disrupt local services.
Danny Healy-Rae said he has longstanding experience as a contractor and described how drivers he trusted had to stop driving school buses at age 70 despite being fit to drive. He asked for independent medical testing rather than an automatic ban, stressing that child safety must remain the priority.
He criticised the rule that bans buses once they reach 20 years, calling it scandalous when mechanically fit vehicles are removed from service and often sold north of the border. He argued that mechanically sound buses should not be discarded solely because of their age.
Healy-Rae described a practical problem when a contracted driver falls sick and a replacement driver from another operator must be re-vetted by the contractor within hours. He questioned why drivers already vetted by other local operators cannot be accepted to cover short-term absences.
He highlighted difficulties in Killarney with growing housing estates needing access to schools and a stalled effort to start a transport service in the Headford area to Bardoor school. He appealed directly to the minister to act so children and parents are not forced to wait until next year for transport arrangements.
Key concerns raised
Danny Healy-Rae said he has longstanding experience as a contractor and described how drivers he trusted had to stop driving school buses at age 70 despite being fit to drive. He asked for independent medical testing rather than an automatic ban, stressing that child safety must remain the priority.
Bus age and disposal policy
He criticised the rule that bans buses once they reach 20 years, calling it scandalous when mechanically fit vehicles are removed from service and often sold north of the border. He argued that mechanically sound buses should not be discarded solely because of their age.
Vetting and operational problems
Healy-Rae described a practical problem when a contracted driver falls sick and a replacement driver from another operator must be re-vetted by the contractor within hours. He questioned why drivers already vetted by other local operators cannot be accepted to cover short-term absences.
Local impacts and appeals to the minister
He highlighted difficulties in Killarney with growing housing estates needing access to schools and a stalled effort to start a transport service in the Headford area to Bardoor school. He appealed directly to the minister to act so children and parents are not forced to wait until next year for transport arrangements.
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Transcript
Minister, I'm glad to get the opportunity here to talk about, I suppose I'll start with the 70-year-olds and I'll say to you, I've been looking for this for many years, Minister, because I'm a contractor. My father has been at it since 1956 and we've a long record of service of taking children to school in Kilgarven and Kinmear. So I understand the plight of the 70-year-olds when they reach 70. I had the finest of drivers and they had to park up and forget about it. When they became 70 years of age. And what I did ask, test them medically, independently or whatever, to ensure that they're perfect in every way because the safety of children is a priority. And I'm not trying to put them in any danger by asking for, because I know the drivers that I left go, they're still driving other vehicles for other people, doing other things rather than school children. And they're still driving perfectly. And they do operate beyond 70 years of age in the USA and the UK. I've seen it and inquired into it myself. So you need to look at that. And then the other thing, 20-year-old buses, the minute they reach 20 years here, even though they're mechanically fit and pass the test, they're put off the road there and then they no longer qualify for bus here. And those buses are, more often than not, are being bought and taken up to the north of Ireland to do the same service up there. That's absolutely scandalous. And then there's another thing that contractors face. And this is a real problem. A driver will get sick tomorrow morning and I could get a loan of a driver, no problem, from Teddy McCarty, Bill Owen, Schneem or Callaghan's buses in Killarney. I can't because they're vetted by those people, but they have to be vetted by me as well in the space of maybe 12 hours. That's ridiculous. If they're vetted and see a bus here in his list, surely that should do. I mean, Minister, like, what's the difference of driving in Killarney or Schneem or Killarney and they're vetted? They have to be vetted individually if they come to me, again. So then we have problems in Killarney town with taking, bringing children from the new house estate in, up in the wood in Killarney. There's 250 houses being built there and they're having difficulty getting down into the monastery and the presentation convent and those places. And they're looking for transport and they're entitled. Then we were trying to get a bus service going in the Headford area to take people to the school in Bardoor. And that's with you, Minister, and I'm hoping that you can do something about it. They found a teen child late in the time and we're being taught that we have to wait till next year. That's not fair in those parents and those children. And I'm asking you to please to do what we can about that. Thank you very much. Thank you, Dr. Hilder-Rey. Thank you.