Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I join colleagues in congratulating the Minister of State, Deputy Jack Chambers, on his elevation to deputy leader of Fianna Fáil. As a fellow Fianna Fáil TD, I am delighted he has been appointed as deputy leader. From a party point of view, it is a very proud day, as it is for his community and his constituency. I know how proud he is of his country and he always tries to do what is best for his country. I offered him my congratulations.

My Topical Issue is a slightly unusual one. There are 30 students living in and around the Bantry area. Those 30 students will be going to Schull Community College next year. In this instance many of these students and families actually live much closer to Bantry. Some of them go to Coláiste Pobail Bheanntraí as it stands. For the students own good and for the good of their families, as well as for reasons personal to the students, Schull is now their choice of school. That is not to take away from Coláiste Pobail Bheanntraí which is a fantastic school. It is a diverse school with incredible educators.

Many of these students have sensory needs; some are autistic. Put simply, it is to do with the size of the different schools. For example, Coláiste Pobail Bheanntraí has an enrolment of over 700 students which is quite large for a school in west Cork. Schull Community College has about 350 students, so it is a completely different world. It is very much a personal choice based on the well-being of the students. For that reason, and based on the fact that 30 students from the Bantry area are looking to go to Schull, it is imperative that the Government steps in and provides a bus service for this route. It makes absolutely no sense that cars would be travelling those long distances to serve that route. That is pretty much it.

I am here to represent students like Olivia, who is autistic. Unfortunately, she is having difficulty coping with the larger numbers in her current school. It is obviously a busier and much noisier place because of the extra numbers and for that reason, it makes sense for her to go to Schull. That is her choice of school. She and everyone close to her know she will fare much better there in terms of her education, personal development and social development.

I know this request is unusual. I know it is not a case of students being between two schools. There is no doubt that Bantry is the closer school, but Schull is the school that will benefit these kids most. I hope that can be delivered.

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