Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Many students will be glad to see the back of the Leaving Certificate examination, once it is completed, and will enjoy their summer break. Their thoughts and those of their families will soon turn to finding accommodation for the next step in their education. That may be in colleges in our main cities of Dublin, Cork and Galway. I am sure many students and their families will be dismayed and alarmed by a recent report. It highlighted how many students from rural parts of our country are commuting daily to and from these cities. Some journeys take up to two to three hours in the morning and evening.

We all understand that the lives of students are stressful and they work long hours. They must get a bus from somewhere like Cavan or Carlow and travel for two to three hours to get to the capital city, go to college, try to concentrate for a full day there and then return home on a bus for another two to three hours. We can understand how that is not good for a person's concentration never mind his or her health. The lack of accommodation and the cost of accommodation, for those fortunate enough to find it, is a serious issue, which needs to be addressed.

We come in here year after year with different Members raising this issue of students from rural Ireland trying to find accommodation and of their parents trying to fund it. It is getting to a point where it is nearly impossible. I know one young lady renting a single bedroom in the basement of a house in the city who is paying €650 a month. It is a serious issue that needs to be addressed. While we have great sympathy for those students having to travel two to three hours a day each way, what about students from places like Donegal or Sligo where commuting is not an option. Third level education will not happen for them because of the lack of accommodation and the cost of it. It is time we grasped this issue. I ask the Leader to bring the Minister for Education and Skills to the House to debate the lack of accommodation for students from rural Ireland.