Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Mary Mitchell O'Connor. Senator Tim Lombard is, in my view, somewhat trespassing into the territory of the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Jim Daly, but I will let him off.

Tim Lombard (Fine Gael)
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What can I say? If one gets the call, one has to do the work. I got the call from the community of Sherkin Island about what was happening there.

I welcome the Minister of State. Sherkin Island is a wonderful little island, the community of which is doing its best to survive. It has a population of 100. The school on it closed in 2016. The major issue since has been trying to find school transportation from the island to the mainland. It is a unique case. What is actually happening is that there is a ferry that takes the children to the mainland to go to school in Rath which is near Baltimore. However, the issue is one of timing. Let me give the Minister of State an example. If a parent has a child in junior or senior infants and he or she finishes at 2 p.m, the parent or guardian must catch the ferry at noon, land in Baltimore at 12.15 p.m., wait one hour and 45 minutes to pick up the child at 2 p.m. and catch the ferry at 3 p.m. to arrive back at the island at 3.15 p.m. One would drive to Dublin in the time it takes to get a child home from school. It is bizarre, to say the very least. In 2016, when the school on the island closed, commitments were given that something would be done to provide transportation for the children to the mainland. It would not be a major issue if the Minister of State were to sit down with the community and thrash it out.

There are 183 school days in the year. There is a need for a dedicated ferry service to match school pick up times between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. Arranging transport for the children to school is becoming a major drain on the community. Obviously for child protection reasons, a parent or grandparent has to accompany a schoolchild on the boat as there is no chaperone on it. There is a need to have a dedicated chaperone it for the children. We know that having to make a round trip of three hours to collect a child from school is not sustainable. We all know what will happen. People will not send their child to school on the mainland from the island; rather, they will move to the mainland and the ethos that has been built on the island for generations, decades, if not millennia, will slowly drift away.

There is a need for a real conversation with the community. Departmental officials need to travel to Sherkin Island to sit down with the community association to put a proactive plan in place in order that the community will be able to ensure the children can be educated in a timely fashion and the way of life they have worked so hard to instill can continue. This is about communication. I agree that the case is unique and that the Department must work to resolve the issue. I know of no other school where a ferry is used as school transportation. Because the case is unique, we need to look for a unique solution. It will involve interaction between the Department of Education and Skills and the community. What I really want - I implore her do so - is for the Minister of State to have her officials travel to the island to engage with the community.We do not need more letters or emails, of which we have seen enough since 2016. We need departmental officials in place so that we can work towards a solution.

Tim Lombard (Fine Gael)
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Discussions between the Departments are very important but the community must be involved. The community feels this has involved only a paper and email trail whereas what is needed is a meeting on Sherkin Island. They have to see it and smell it to understand what is really happening. To think that one could be in Dublin in the time it takes to collect one's child is an unbelievable scenario. Nowhere else in the State does that happen. There was a similar issue with the secondary schools 20 years ago and the Department came down at the time to put a service in place which has worked very well ever since. That connection and communication is required again. I implore the Minister of State to ensure a meeting takes place on Sherkin. We need to get all those people down to thrash out what is required.