In Census 2016, there were 62,180 families with four or more children present in the household on the night forms were filled in.

Many of these might, of course, be adult children with cars of their own, but you have to suspect the majority were parents who need to bring everyone with them on trips, even occasionally.

With only five seats in most cars, and the law demanding each passenger wears a seatbelt, that means only one thing, namely taking the plunge to buy a seven seat car.

There are more options now than ever before, though with the exception of the Dacia Jogger, they're not exactly what you might call cheap.

While the Toyota Highlander is one of the better seven-seaters when it comes to space and driveability, the €65,225 entry-level price is beyond the reach of most. If you have that many mouths to feed, it seems likely your priorities for your cash are food, heat and education.

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Nonetheless, Toyota sold 58 Highlanders last year, suggesting that demand, however niche, is there, even for a premium-priced product.

Anyone who has the cash will not be disappointed, because the Highlander is a great big, sturdy workhorse that would give the Land Cruiser a run for its money.

At almost five metres long, it allows for good legroom between the front seats and middle row, and ample between the middle and back rows. If those two rear seats are not in use, the middle row slides back and forward to maximise comfort for all.

Very comfortable the car is too, with perforated heated and cooled leather seats, and attractive wood grain front and rear door inserts.

The standard model sits on 18-inch wheels, while this Platinum test car upgrades to 20-inch.

There's an eight-inch Toyota Touch infotainment screen, inset in the fascia, and seven-inch TFT instrument panel. The Sol trim adds an 11-speaker JBL audio system. Platinum in turn adds a panoramic roof, power back door with kick function - very handy if you actually do have a clatter of kids you need to keep an eye on - heated rear seats to pamper them and head-up display.

All levels come with Apple CarPlay and Android auto, though I think I'll stop telling you that in the future and you just can take it as a given, because the exception would be any car that doesn't!

The Highlander is available in eight paint jobs, with only the red adding any excitement. The others are two blues, dark and light, three black/grey, one silver and one white in either metallic or pearlescent finishes.

To be honest, I wish there was a green, or something even more dramatic, because the exterior could do with a slightly livelier presence.

As things are, it looks just a little bit sullen, especially from the rear, where design inspiration seems to have gone to die. Up front, it looks more like a RAV4, which is no harm at all.

Despite its bulk, the Highlander is quite nimble. The 2.5-litre petrol engine works alongside motors on the front and rear axles for added oomph, and you'll get from zero to 100kph in a tidy 8.3 seconds.

The CVT transmission, which I usually dread, actually feels a lot more polite in this car, and shifts with a greater fluidity than I expected, to the point where I forgot it was CVT at all.

On the open road, it happily shoots along with negligible noise, vibration or harshness, but it needs a little more attention on back roads in the country, and you still feel it when you hit a bump or pothole; you might want to strap the children in the third row down.

At seven litres per 100km in WLTP testing, it's not exactly frugal on juice by modern hybrid standards, and in truth you're more likely to get returns of about eight litres per 100km. The fuel tank holds 65 litres.

There's a drive mode selector, so you can opt for comfort or sport, though it doesn't really seem to make an awful lot of difference. Overall, though, it delivers a nice drive pitched firmly between what you would expect from a car this size and a nimbler saloon such as the Camry, with which it shares a platform.

I came to like it a lot. It's robust and it feels like you could take on any road conditions when you're behind the wheel. This week's light dusting of snow certainly wouldn't have caused it any problems — which, I guess, is why they called it the Highlander in the first place.

TOYOTA HIGHLANDER PRICE Entry-level: €65,225; Model driven (Platinum trim): €76,450 ENGINE 2.5-litre hybrid MOTORS 134kW front, 40kW rear Power 248hp TRANSMISSION CVT automatic, all-wheel drive 0-100KM/H 8.3 seconds TOP SPEED 180kph WLTP FUEL CONSUMPTION (L/100KM) 7.1 (combined) CO2 159g/km €280 tax DIMENSIONS 4950mm (L); 1930mm (W, incl mirrors); 1730mm (H)