James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This is a tricky issue for a number of reasons. The Youghal town urban area has lost a school bus transport service that covered 120 children in the locality. It was a commercially-run service that operated for 54 years, predominantly by one private bus operator in the locality. It ran with great success servicing originally three and then two primary schools, and one post-primary school following the amalgamation of the three secondary schools in Youghal into one, Pobalscoil Na Tríonóide. The bus served Gaelscoil Choráin, Bunscoil Mhuire and Pobalscoil Na Tríonóide.

Youghal town has long had significant social needs. It is a commuter town from where many people commute to places such as Dungarvan, Cork city, Little Island, Carrigtwohill and other major centres of employment. This often requires parents to be on the road early in the morning to get to their places of work. This commercial bus service was vital for working families in particular to get their children to and from their place of education. The topography of Youghal is also an interesting factor in this. It is a very hilly town. It is not necessarily an easy walk to get to the secondary school in particular from the residential communities. The service was of unique benefit locally.

From the perspective of more recent developments in Youghal town we now have one of the largest international protection accommodation services, IPAS, centres in the country. There is also a major inconsistency, unfortunately, whereby children who are resident in the facility are being brought to and from the local schools by bus transportation and local children have lost the commercial bus service to which they had access. One service is subsidised by the State and the other is not because there was a successfully running commercial bus enterprise.

The reason the enterprise stopped, and we have engaged with the bus operator in good faith, is that it did the analysis on how it worked and saw it was just not working out financially any more because of the rising cost of doing business. The operating model was that people were being charged €55 for a place for a child on the bus. This rose to €60 for two children and €65 for three. Unfortunately, when the numbers were analysed, it was not working out. It was quite an expensive service for those using it but it was appreciated because it covered the commuting issue for local children. Three buses were used, with the secondary school run done first and the primary school run afterwards.

My ask is unique. It is about a community that has done an awful lot to help with migration. It is about a community where there is a need for Government intervention in this situation. While I acknowledge that this is a commercial service, I also acknowledge that there is great sensitivity. I would like to see the Government and the Department of Education recognise that this is an exceptional circumstance, whereby Youghal town has already done so much, particularly the local schools, to bring Ukrainian and other families from across the world who have been hosted in the town into the community through integration, with very few issues arising. It is important to reflect on this. I appreciate that the Minister is not here this evening, but I know the Minister of State, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, will be replying. I will be interested to hear what the Government has to say.

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