Jen Cummins (Dublin South Central, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for being in and out like a yo-yo. It is a really busy day here today.

I have two different scenarios for parents. Somebody told me that we were supposed to be getting rid of the nearest school rule, and I am sorry if this has already been covered, but I thought that was supposed to be done two years ago. There are two particular places it has impacted where I have been working with people, one of which is Inchicore in my own constituency of Dublin South-Central. There are a number of parents whose children have gone to a Gaelscoil and who are in a Gaelcholáiste, but the problem is basically that they are passing many schools on the way and they cannot get a bus to Gaelcholáiste an Phiarsaigh in Rathfarnham. They have been refused again. What that means is that one parent's child is taking three buses to get there. That is a huge commitment as a family if they want their children to go through education in that particular language. It really means a lot to them, so they find it very difficult. Others are taking two buses. We are talking about many hours of being on buses to get to school every day.

The other area where it has been made known to me is west Wicklow where there are children who are going to Blessington Educate Together National School, but they live closer to Brannoxtown Community National School. Bus Éireann has told them that it cannot go. Basically, the difficulty is that it is the same ethos, but the parents would argue that it is a different patron and, therefore, they are choosing an educate together school. They are not choosing a community national school. Those are two different scenarios of where the rule is proving quite a difficulty for that cohort of parents. I just want to have an understanding. Again, I apologise if that was already covered when I was not here.