Bus Éireann is to carry out privately run random alcohol and drug testing on staff after a driver was sacked for failing a Garda breathalyser test while in charge of a bus with passengers aboard. Bus Éireann says none of its 2,700 staff tested positive for alcohol or drugs under tests carried out by CIÉ over the past 10 years, though it has repeatedly refused to disclose the numbers of tests carried out. During the “normal course of reviewing and improving systems”, senior managers at Bus Éireann decided last year to “enhance” testing “beyond that required by law”, said the company. “The enhanced programme sees Bus Éireann moving from a regular employment and ‘for cause’ testing regime to add a programme of random testing for all employees,” said a spokeswoman. Bus Éireann told The Irish Times the driver “did not return to driving duties, was dismissed and an employment appeal process is ongoing”.

Source: The Irish Times August 01, 2020 00:00 UTC