Last Stop for over 70s Bus Drivers is unfair - Councillor Dempsey
Published on: 11 October 2024
The mandatory retirement age of 70 for Bus Éireann drivers must be reviewed, as it discriminates against people who are capable of providing a valued service, according to Aisling Dempsey, a Meath County Councillor.
She said: "I have been contacted by several people just this year about the unfairness they feel about not being able to continue being a bus driver past their 70th birthday.
"These people are perfectly fit, healthy, medically assessed and licensed to drive a bus and yet they cannot, due to a one size fits all policy from Bus Éireann that means once somebody is 70 years old, they are deemed unfit to drive.
"If Bus Éireann's assessment systems are good enough to determine if someone in their late sixties can drive; surely they can make this assessment for 70 plus year olds. At a time when we need more bus drivers, not less, it would be smarter to use their current assessment system to determine those over 70s that can continue to drive.
"This policy is not only bluntly ageist, it also further worsens the ongoing bus driver shortage which is a nationwide issue as well as here in Meath."
Dempsey said she contacted Bus Éireann about the policy. In their response they said they have "no plan to increase the age limit."
Bus Éireann also said they recently reviewed their Driver’s Minimum Age requirements and reduced the Minimum Age from 23/24 to 21.
Dempsey said reducing the minimum age requirements, while keeping the mandatory retirement age of 70, is unfair.
She said: "I am calling for the mandatory retirement age of 70 to be reviewed. If the minimum age can be reduced by several years, the retirement age can be changed.
"In the UK there is no upper age limit, just continuous assessment of drivers and bus driving has become a popular post retirement job there. Adopting this model would maintain safety levels and allow competent drivers to continue to contribute, whilst helping our communities."
-ENDS-
