Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCeann Comhairle. I am delighted to contribute to these statements. I am very conscious, as I do so, of the many young people right across the State who have missed out on so much both last year and this year. I was lucky enough to go to college. I attended NUI Galway, thanks to many sacrifices made by my parents. The experience that I had is the experience that has been missed both last year and this year by so many students and I am very conscious of that as we discuss this issue.

I begin by raising concerns about the private accommodation providers. I am aware that this has been raised at length not just today but previously. I find it a great shame that there are private accommodation providers out there behaving in this way. I am dealing with one such provider in Galway and also with a family which has spent over €5,000 for that accommodation place for their son. It is very regrettable that these private accommodation providers could not have stepped up and have allowed a refund or to have come to some arrangement with parents. We all know that so many parents out there sacrifice so much. Some have to get loans and go to their local credit union but they always, in as much as is possible, find a way to secure that place and accommodation for their son and daughter. Many students will also work part-time to try to help along the way. While I know that when it comes to private accommodation providers it is more difficult for the Minister to intervene in the same way as he might be able to with perhaps college-owned campuses, I ask, nonetheless, that he use this opportunity to call on these private accommodation providers to do the right thing.

I welcome the review that is underway of SUSI. I would really like to see some discretion exercised in the way that it makes decisions. I am referring in particular to the adjacent rule, that is the distance that someone lives from college. This is particularly important in rural areas where one might not live that far away from the college but the lack of public transport to get there creates so many added problems for students.

I recall a student who contacted me. She had received a very small grant because she lived less than 45 km from the college. If she wished to be in college for 9 a.m., which is the start time, she would have to get a bus at 4.30 a.m. to get to the next town and wait two and a half hours for a connecting bus that would get her to college at 9 a.m. The college ended at 5 p.m. and she would wait an hour and 40 minutes for a bus to bring her to a town where she had to wait an hour and a half for the connecting bus. She would get back to her local village at 8.45 p.m. We must examine this when it comes to SUSI and rural areas. There must be a little discretion for these students.

I have a question for the Minister about social care students and the payment of €250. I was contacted by a number of students in Athlone Institute of Technology. They had to go back this year to do their placements, as they could not do them last year. The students are not paying college fees this year, but have returned just to do their placements. Will they be able to avail of that €250?

Finally, and I appreciate that this is not part of the Minister's brief, but many Members have welcomed the Government's announcement this afternoon regarding the provision of special education from next week. I very much welcome that and I commend parents who were the voice for their children. It was a very powerful voice, especially in the past week. It is a reminder to us all of the battle parents have from day one, a battle for assessments, appointments, SNAs and a seat on the bus. We must do a great deal more for special education in the State, and for those parents and children. They deserve it all.

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