Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am not convinced by that. Will the Minister of State and his departmental officials meet with Good Shepherd Cork to explore the matter? The service supports families whose children have missed between 50 and 70 school days in an academic year. We have had debates on homelessness and talked about children doing their homework on a hotel bed or in a family hub. These are very challenging circumstances in which to raise a child.

An added complication is that many of these accommodations do not have space for cars and many people do not have cars to bring a child to school. It is a significant challenge and we must ensure that these children do not lose out on their education.

I am not sure that school transport is necessarily the best solution. I will make up an illustrative example from a part of the world the Minister of State is familiar with. If a child in Grenagh or Rathduff, for example, were offered emergency accommodation after eviction it would probably be on the Western Road. The school route would probably go through Grenagh, Rathduff and into Carrignavar or Blarney. How is that bus going to reroute to the Western Road and bring people out there? That is hardly going to work, given that existing school transport routes take a different direction.

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