Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

Ireland is not a poor, backward country, not by any manner or means, yet we cannot get significant numbers of our kids to school in the morning. The Government has serious questions to answer on that. I wish to bring to the attention of the Dáil the situation facing the people of Glenville in my constituency of Cork North-Central. In particular, I wish to raise the situation facing 12 students and their families. These students have been, as the saying goes, knocked off the bus. They attend school in nearby Fermoy, which has been the traditional location for school attendance for many young people from Glenville down the years. The bus from there to Fermoy, though, is oversubscribed. Bus Éireann has asked parents to send their children to the nearest school in Carrignavar or Dublin Hill, but there are no transport services to these areas either.

The end result is that parents have to turn themselves inside out just to try to get their kids to school. I am told that at least two parents face the choice of keeping their kids away from school or giving up their jobs. What is happening in Glenville is wrong. It is one example of the injustices happening across the country. The State must show greater flexibility on these issues and the school transport system needs to be properly and adequately financed.

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