I'm with DC07 on this as well.

While AVs are far from my favourite, they are not at the end of their useful working lives. They are anything but life expired.

Much and all as I like the RVs, I can understand the need for replacing them too. They are not accessible, and that's the end of it. Accessible buses don't just benefit people in wheelchairs - they beneift lots of able bodied people as well, especially people with buggies and older people.

The AVs, and other citybuses in the fleet do not have this problem, so I cannot see the desire to get these replaced so soon.

The Celtic Tiger mindset is still in full force in CIÉ. The 99 and 00 VWLs are looking like they will be withdrawn next year (the remaining 99s are only taxed till the end of this month, so they could be gone very very soon) and they are only 11-12 years old now. They're a great bus and with some surgery they would easily be able for many years more. Sure even the KCs managed 18-19 years here (KCs reamined on in service in Cork right till the very start of 2002) and while we all have fond memories of them, and no doubt they had far more character than the modern machines, the modern machines are also far better made and more reliable. Similarly with the AVs, they are a bit young for withdrawing - even the oldest ones will only be 12 years old next year.

Most buses are designed to work 20 years in service and buses are considerably more reliable than cars (most modern cars are designed to have a lifespan of 10-12 years thanks to Government subsides like scrappage schemes and the like) and while a 20 year lifespan is probably a bit unrealistic (as even in the fleet operators they normally cascade vehicles to schools or other very light duties towards the end of the 20 years - something that does not happen with citybuses these days because of seatbelt issues), a 15-16 year lifespan most certainly is a realistic proposition rather than just 12 years of service.