Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to get the opportunity to speak on this motion and I thank Sinn Féin for bringing it forward in the Chamber tonight. Every one of us elected here recognises that we must assist people in every way to ensure that our children can access education. Whether this is in primary school, secondary school or at third level, we must ensure it is available and accessible to all children. There is no question in this regard about every boy and girl who got up this morning and went to school. Some are finished now for the holidays and we wish them all the very best for their bit of a break. Many of them are working to assist their parents to provide the funding to ensure they can go to school in the fall of the year in September.

I have also had people ringing me about accessing the Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI, grant. It is a constant worry and bother to those parents, whether they have one, two or three children. The costs mount as the numbers increase. It is very difficult for some of these parents to meet the bills they must pay. Additionally, accommodation costs in Limerick and Cork are exorbitant. Can we imagine that students from Kerry were driving up and down to Cork and Limerick during the last fall of the year when they could not get accommodation at all or could not pay for it? This is not acceptable and we must ensure this does not happen in future.

Last year, about this time, the Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, announced that every child would have free transport to national schools. Yet we knew the preparations had not been made for that to happen. The school bus transport in Tralee, in our county, was not ready for this or preparations had not been made in this regard. We all know how hard it is to get drivers and contractors and to ensure that they have buses up to standard. It was very unfair and not thought out very well. It was laid out that every child going to national school would have free transport, but in reality that is not what happened.

It is a struggle to ensure that those travelling beyond two miles have school transport. It is hard to organise this and to get it going, but I believe that all those who are beyond two miles are entitled to this free school transport on a bus. I say this because in a place like Kilgarvan four national schools have already closed. A commitment was given by the Department of Education at that time that all those children from those areas where the schools had been closed would be transported to the central school, which is Kilgarvan Central School. Sadly, though, it is a struggle to ensure that those children get this transport all the time and that this service is maintained. It may lapse for a time. No children might be coming from the Gortaloughane area in Kilgarvan, for example.

All of a sudden a family arrives and transport needs to start again. There is a reluctance to ensure that families are accommodated.

That is why I worry about Governments that make statements that children will always be transported because the next Government that comes into office seems to forget that. As long as we are elected here to represent the people, we will keep reminding the Government that those commitments were given in every parish. As well as Kilgarvan, they were given in Gneeveguilla where Tureencahill closed. Other schools were closed. If the Government does not do that, it is neglecting rural Ireland. People cannot live in those areas if they do not have a car.

See this speech in context