Bus operator Go-Ahead said housing shortage was ‘huge barrier’ for drivers

In a letter to the Department of Transport last November, Go-Ahead said there were ‘challenges closer to home’ in relation to the process for training drivers

Bus operator Go-Ahead flagged concerns about housing being a “huge barrier” for drivers from other countries with the Department of Transport, and said it resulted in some returning to their home country.

In a letter to the Department last November, Go-Ahead added there were “challenges closer to home” in relation to the process for training drivers.

The correspondence was released to The Irish Times under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act.

The department had contacted the bus company regarding plans for non-EU bus drivers to be permitted to work in the State to help tackle recruitment problems in the sector. A quota of 1,500 employment permits for non-EU bus and coach drivers was established by the Department of Enterprise in mid-December. To date 18 bus and coach permits have been issued, while one permit has been refused and another withdrawn, it said.

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Drivers must receive a minimum annual remuneration of €30,000 based on a 39-hour week, and must hold driving licence categories D, DE, D1 and D1E or the recognised equivalent.

In the letter Go-Ahead Ireland said: “We tried this approach of bringing in people from other EU countries and housing was a huge barrier, which meant the people gave up and left to go back to their home country. We have challenges closer to home with the process for training drivers and maybe a focus could be put on the RSA in supporting them to get those things moving.”

A spokeswoman for Go-Ahead Ireland said it had responded to a request from the Department of Transport regarding non-EU bus drivers in 2022, and “shared some issues that were impacting driver recruitment at the time”.

“The company is not currently exploring the option of non-EU drivers as recruitment and training as well as retention levels have improved significantly over the last number of months,” the spokeswoman said. “We continue to receive a high number of applications for driver positions from people living in Ireland, and our training school is currently at full capacity. At present Go-Ahead Ireland is working towards the continued roll out of the NTA’s BusConnects network redesign.”

The Department of Transport said it engaged with the Department of Enterprise and all public service obligation operators in relation to work permits for bus drivers from non-EU and non-EEA countries due to the current driver shortages being experienced across the system.

It said the matter raised by Go-Ahead was in relation to “their specific experience in attracting new employees”.

“This is an operational matter for the company and questions in relation to this issue would be for the company to respond to. The department is not directly involved in the recruitment of drivers,” a spokesman for the department said.

The department added that driver recruitment had improved in recent months, with Dublin Bus reporting the recruitment of 319 drivers over the course of 2022.

Sarah Burns

Sarah Burns

Sarah Burns is a reporter for The Irish Times