Nicole Ryan
Administrative Panel · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“This is not just happening in my area; it is also happening in other places where estates are not being taken in charge and, therefore, residents do not know who to call if something happens. They are left alone. Tanyard Wood is unique because nobody has taken charge of the estate for ten years.”
“By 2007, the developer had gone bust and therefore, Cork County Council submitted an appeal to take charge of the estate. It has been almost ten years and it still has not taken charge of the estate. It sits in no man's land. The estate has not been maintained. No proper maintenance at all is happening.”
“It means that cancer patients in the mid-west have virtually no opportunity to access clinical trials. Accident and emergency access, dentistry and now access to clinical trials for cancer patients - how did we get to this point?”
“I will speak briefly on amendments Nos. 39 and 41. Amendment No. 39 is quite straightforward. It ensures that applicants are clearly informed of two fundamental rights within their international protection process.”
“At the core, the amendment is about ensuring individuals entrusted with supporting some of the most vulnerable children in our system are properly trained, suitable for the role and held to appropriate standards.”
“We need clear timelines. Interim measures are required to ensure residents are not left feeling unsafe or conditions are allowed to deteriorate while progress drags on. People bought homes in the area in good faith.”
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“I welcome the Minister back to the House. I welcome the opportunity to speak on these motions before the House. They relate to the proposed series of opt-ins under Protocol 21. Specifically, we are being asked to approve opt-ins for three major EU regulations: a regulation establishing a Union support for asylum, migration and integration for the period 2028 to 2034, and regulations establishing Union support for internal security and justice programmes for the same period. We are also being asked to consider a separate motion regarding Ireland's proposed opt-in to the EU-South Korea negotiations on the exchange of passenger name records.”
“Sinn Féin will support this Bill but we will continue to push, as all of us must, for full and urgent reform our justice system needs.”
“We have to protect vulnerable people without making it harder for GAA clubs, community councils, youth groups and other voluntary organisations to raise a few euro to keep them going. I urge the Minister to ensure community fundraising is protected. Small voluntary groups must not caught be in the crossfire of legislation that is aimed at commercial gambling. We cannot keep patching up holes and calling it reform. We need a court system that is resourced in every corner from the registrar's desk and the clerk's office to the judge's bench. This Bill gives us an opening and a chance to say clearly that the status quo is not working and that incremental change is just not enough. Victims deserve better. Survivors deserve better. Children deserve better.”
“A child's life cannot be put on pause and a child does not get those years back. When the system moves too slowly, it is always the child who will pay the price for it. The Bill also touches on the Gambling Regulation Act 2024. Again, it is a small amendment but it is a big topic. As the Minister knows, across rural communities like the ones I represent in Cork North-West, local fundraisers, charity raffles, sports clubs and community organisations have raised some concerns around this Act and how it may affect their ability to fund the vital work they do. We have to strike a balance. I appreciate that regulation of gambling is needed because we have issues around gambling. It is a growing and hidden addiction that is really difficult for families and individuals.”
“The Bill also proposes minor amendments to the Child Care Act 1991, as it relates to the Child and Family Agency. While these amendments may be limited, the opportunity before us is not. We cannot keep discussing legislation connected to child protection without acknowledging that families and front-line workers are seeing every single day that Tusla is overstretched, is overwhelmed and has too many cases to be able to keep vulnerable children safe. We have seen reports from HIQA, from practitioners and from communities outlining failures that leave children at risk, whether it is a child waiting for months for an assessment, an unsafe placement, a lack of aftercare supports or cases bouncing between social care workers due to burnout or constant staff turnover. The system is not coping.”
“Families are living in limbo as they wait for custody or access decisions. The futures of vulnerable children are held up because reports, hearings and orders simply cannot be scheduled. For survivors of sexual violence especially, the delay is not just an administrative inconvenience; it is a form of secondary trauma. Every adjournment, every postponement and every rescheduled hearing keeps them locked in the worst chapter of their lives. It prevents healing, prolongs fear and undermines the purpose of justice. That is not a victim-centred system. It is not timely justice. It is unsustainable. We do not just have too few judges in the system; we have too few registrars, court clerks and legal and administrative staff to run the system efficiently. Adding judges without adding staff is like adding buses without hiring any bus drivers.”
“At its core, this Bill increases the number of judges across the District Court, the Circuit Court, the High Court and the Court of Appeal. Having 21 additional judges is a step in the right direction. I acknowledge the Minister's work on that. We cannot keep pretending that increasing judicial numbers alone will solve the deep and systematic delays that exist in our courts today. Our justice system is slow because it is starved of staff and of resources. We know from the Law Society and from lived experience of victims and survivors that cases can take at least 1.5 times longer than the European average, which is absolutely unacceptable. These are not just statistics; these are people's lives. Survivors of sexual violence are waiting years and years to give evidence.”
“We must also acknowledge what we saw in Drogheda, an horrific act that could have cost people's lives. There can never be any tolerance of racist attacks. Those responsible must be held accountable, but we cannot ignore the truth: the Government must also be held accountable for the failures that have created fertile ground for anger and confusion. When there is no clear system, no clear engagement, and no clear communication, bad-faith actors rush in to fill the vacuum. This Fine Gael motion tries to point the finger elsewhere, but the simple truth is that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have been in government for a decade. This did not happen last night. There have been decades of bad policy. They built the system and they broke the system. We need to restore confidence in our policies and in how our migration system works.”
“That is what we need to implement here as well. If you are not here lawfully and you have gone through all the channels, if you need to be deported, you need to go. People on both sides of the House have said that. What is not fair is people left waiting years for a decision. What is not fair is when families live in fear of a knock on the door to say that they are not welcome here and they are to be deported, without any actual reasons. What is not fair is a system that lets people settle deeply into communities, only to uproot them without warning. What is not fair on anyone is a Government that has created so much confusion, secrecy and uncertainty that it has allowed fear to grow, division to take root, and vulnerable people to be used as political scapegoats.”
“It never should be. This is about fairness, but the Government has created a vacuum where people can just jump in and say all sorts of things. We have seen so many incidents across Ireland over the last while and a very big incident. People are protesting outside accommodation centres where people live with their children. The Government has not responded very well at all to that. This is about building a system people can trust, both those who live here and those who want to come here and seek a new life for themselves. If I want to go to another country tomorrow to seek asylum, I would be expected to go through the proper channels. I would also have to meet the criteria, and if I did not meet them, of course I could appeal the decision, but if my appeal is refused then that country has a right to send me back.”
“Now we are seeing a sharp rise in arrivals directly linked to that decision. We cannot keep extending "temporary" measures indefinitely. People need clarity, they need certainty and they need pathways, not limbo. That brings me to what I believe is one of the greatest cruelties of the current system. Too many people are being left in limbo for years - some for over a decade - building lives and families, contributing and raising children, and then suddenly, with one swift blanket decision, the Government decides they can no longer stay. That is not good policy. That is not humane, and it is not how a rules-based system should function for people. As someone who is mixed race and a migrant, I abhor racism, which I have experienced myself as well as xenophobia. This cannot be a discussion around the colour of someone's skin.”
“The Comptroller and Auditor General has now confirmed what we in Sinn Féin have been saying for years: the system is wide open to abuse, and that must end. We have been calling for a review of all IPAS contracts, an end to planning exemptions and a new approach to locating accommodation, one that begins with assessing the capacity of communities, not the profit margins of private operators. Communities deserve real engagement, and that has not been happening at all. We opposed the Government's decision to sign up to the EU migration and asylum pact. It hands over powers that should rest here where the unique realities of the Border and the common travel area must be considered. Similarly, the extension of the temporary protection directive to 2027 was nodded along with zero discussion of its financial or social impacts.”
“Senator Ahearn pointed to recent figures but according to my figures, a total of 2,846 deportation orders have been signed in 2025 and only 275 of them have been confirmed. Perhaps the Minister will confirm what the real figures are. A rules-based system only works if the rules are applied at every stage. The public needs to see that the process is fair, efficient and consistent. Meanwhile, a small number of private operators are making millions of euro from a dysfunctional, privatised IPAS system. The cost to the State has spiralled to over €1.2 billion this year alone. We have companies with no experience, companies named in CAB investigations and companies supplying unvetted staff, all receiving vast sums under a system that has little transparency or oversight.”
“This means balancing our need for workers in key sectors such as health with the realities of a housing crisis, the capacity of public services and our humanitarian obligations to those fleeing war and persecution. The Government's mishandling of migration has been a disaster. There has been no considered management of migration that takes into account the ability of society to integrate or the capacity to house those who come here. Economic migration has been guided almost exclusively by the needs of corporations, with little consideration for broader social goals. At the moment, applications and appeals take too long. Deportations, where those are the lawful outcome, are not being enforced.”
“This Private Members' business debate gives us an opportunity to speak on migration and the international protection system, one that has been pushed into chaos for years by Government mismanagement. The reality is that there has been no coherent, planned or capacity-based approach to migration. There is no serious attempt to match arrivals with the realities of our housing system, public services or the capacity of our communities. Instead, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have allowed the international protection system to fall into permanent crisis. As a State, we have an obligation to manage migration, not to simply allow it to be shaped by global forces, market forces or profit motives. Migration must be managed in the interest of the people.”
“We urgently need a full and substantial debate in the House on the IPAS system, its failure and what reforms are necessary for the system. Communities deserve a system that is planned, structured and fair and not one which is chaotic, ad hoc and profit driven. We need a model that reflects that. I ask the Leader to schedule a debate as soon as possible because the current approach is unsustainable and unfair and undermines confidence nationwide.”
“The placement of IPAS centres is being driven by profits and not the need for capacity or planning. Communities are not being consulted or told anything. They are expected to absorb these centres without the Government investing in proper infrastructure for areas. This approach is failing everybody, including communities and people who are applying for international protection, and it is undermining confidence in the system. We now have a situation where people do not know what to believe, who is responsible or what is happening. This vacuum is dangerous. It breeds misinformation and allows bad faith actors to stoke division. The Government has to take responsibility for that. Fine Gael is introducing a motion on migration today.”
“The community has gone through months of anxiety, speculation, rumour and unnecessary division, all because there is no coherent system or proper communication with the community and no transparency from the Government around the IPAS system. Macroom is not unique. The confusion is being repeated in towns and villages across the board. Communities hear one thing from a provider, another thing from planning documents, something different from the Department and nothing at all from the Government. That is not how migration works or how international protection should be managed in a modern and functioning state. This chaos is a result of policy failure. The international protection system is in crisis mode at the moment. Decisions are taking far too long. Appeals take too long. Deportations are rarely, if ever, enforced.”
“I want to raise an ongoing issue causing confusion and frustration in communities across Ireland in relation to the IPAS system. I want to highlight specifically the issue in Macroom. Over the past couple of months, residents in Macroom have been left in a state of uncertainty regarding a proposed development of 20 apartment-style units for IPAS accommodation. The application was granted permission. Objections were raised, yet when I sought clarity the Department told me it is not currently considering any properties in the area and planning permission does not mean that it intends to contract a property for IPAS accommodation.”
“I am not asking for the Minister to get involved in the day-to-day decisions. In my constituency, Ballyhoura Development CLG, touches only as far as Charleville. IRD Duhallow will touch the rest. What I am talking about are the small FET centres that are not getting this kind of funding and have to cut their services in rural parts, not the huge ones. They cannot compete with the huge ones such as Cork ETB in the city. Small ones like Millstreet, potentially, Macroom and others in small rural towns provide an amazing service for the people there. In rural Ireland there is a lot of isolation. They are not getting the funding they are supposed to be getting. I know this is not part of the Minister of State's brief, but his script has not answered my question. This is not what I asked. It just gives me a load of things that have been done.”
“I hope the Minister of State can agree that programmes which bring people together, improve mental health and create community connections are worth every cent, even if they do not come with a certificate at the end.”
“When someone who has been isolated for years finds their confidence in a singing group or when an older learner uses a tablet for the first time through a local Reach project, that is success. I ask the Government to re-examine the criteria under the Reach funding that is allocated for 2025 and to protect the non-accredited community education programmes, especially in rural areas. Millstreet and other small towns like it cannot be expected to compete with larger urban centres under a one-size-fits-all funding model. Community education is not a luxury; it is the foundation of inclusion, resilience and well-being in rural Ireland.”
“Cork County Council even recorded a short documentary clip because of the success of its project. Yet today these tutors, who have given so much to their communities, are having to cut their hours or eliminate them entirely because their work is being dismissed as a hobby. The new approach that prioritises QQI accreditation courses at the expense of community-based ones undermines the very ethos of lifelong learning. Not every learner wants or is ready for a certificate. Many simply need connection, purpose and belonging, and that is what the community education provides. I appreciate that the budget constraints are a reality, but we cannot measure the value of community education in accredited hours or test results.”
“These courses build confidence, community spirit and mental well-being. They combat isolation, particularly among older people, carers and those who are struggling with mental health. I will take the Millstreet FET centre in my home town of Millstreet as an example. It serves one of the smallest catchment areas in north Cork, yet in the 2024-25 term it had 189 registered learners and submitted more QQI folders than some larger centres. It has become in every sense a community hub, even if it is not officially that. In Millstreet the Singing for the Brain programme has been one of the most powerful community initiatives we have seen. The group performs at nursing homes, hospitals and local concerts. Their music lifts spirits not just for participants but for entire communities.”
“The Reach fund was established with a clear purpose to assist ETBs and community education providers in supporting educationally disadvantaged learners, particularly those at NFQ levels 1 to 3, and to help to bridge the digital divide that many rural learners face. It was designed to tackle inequality, promote access and give everyone, regardless of their background, the chance to learn, participate and connect. The reality on the ground, however, is that this year's drastic reduction in funding is having the opposite effect. Across north Cork, classes that have run for years - community singing, yoga, mindfulness, knitting, crochet and art - are being scrapped because they are deemed non-accredited. I take real issue with that because while these classes may not result in a QQI certification, the outcomes are extraordinary nonetheless.”
“What we need to do is make the people who feed the nation no longer feel like they are left to struggle by themselves, support them and recognise that they are just as valuable, if not more, in our society that keeps us going.”
“That is why there needs to be a cross-departmental strategy that is bringing various Departments together, because it cannot just fall to mental health or agriculture. We also have to properly fund a lot of the organisations that are already doing some great work. The Minister of State mentioned a few of them. Things like Embrace FARM, the Farm Well Hub and Macra na Feirme do a lot of great work among their communities at a local level. There is the IFA and a lot of local initiatives that maybe some of us have never heard of that do great work on the ground with volunteers. Farmers deserve more than our sympathy after a tragedy. They deserve a system that prevents it and values their work, supports their well-being and keeps them safe. When we protect our farmers, we protect our food supply, rural heritage and the fabric of Irish life.”
“The peer-to-peer support is vital because sometimes the most powerful interaction is a conversation with somebody who truly knows what is going on. We should invest in farming programmes that provide connection and purpose for people, particularly those who are recovering from trauma or have addiction or mental health challenges. Addiction and trauma will impact our farmers as well. People think that people who farm have their lives together and sometimes addiction does not touch them, but it is does sometimes and that is another layer they have to face. On a policy level, mental well-being cannot be separate from the wider realities of rural life. A farmer who feels financially secure, who can plan for succession and has access to childcare, housing and stable supports is far less likely to reach crisis point.”
“In rural Ireland, suicide rates remain stubbornly high, and in too many homes that silence continues. That silence is costing people's lives. As so many others have mentioned, it is time for a national co-ordinated response that recognises that mental health well-being is just as important as farm safety and physical well-being. We need accessible mental health supports that meet farmers where they are. That means it should not be in distant clinics, it should be at local GPs, primary level centres and community hubs. We should also extend outreach to where the farm discussion groups are being held, where farmers meet in marts with Teagasc advisers, and places where farmers already go and trust people.”
“I thank both Ministers of State for being here. They are most welcome. It is great to hear that suicide rates have started to come down, but not all suicides are recorded as suicides. Some are recorded as misadventure. We can only go on the statistics that we have, but sometimes that does not reflect the truth of what people are encountering on the ground. For every statistic, there is a family that is shattered, a neighbour lost or a community that is grieving. Machinery, livestock and slurry tanks can be unpredictable and deadly. Even the most careful experienced farmer can fall victim to tragedy. Farm safety is not just about physical risk, it is the mental risk as well. Teagasc and HSE research shows that farmers experience higher levels of psychological distress, anxiety and depression than other occupational groups.”
“There is nothing to stop the Government from letting this Bill proceed. Let it go to Committee Stage, where the Government can make its amendments. Some women will not have 12 months to wait. Women will lose their lives because they will not be able to flee. The Government's amendment is really disappointing. I thank Senator Stephenson and the Cross-Party Group for bringing forward the Bill.”
“It seeks to make a small, practical change such that survivors can leave without having to worry about the cost of travel. I particularly welcome the provision to include mechanisms for review and gathering feedback from referral bodies and transport providers to ensure the scheme will continue to meet survivors' needs. Those of us working in communities, urban and rural alike, see the gaps in provision every single day. We know how much difference one practical support can make. This safe passage scheme is not a grand gesture. It is not grounded in immediate intervention but it can change lives. I commend the Bill. I am really disappointed the Government is putting forward a timed amendment. As other Opposition speakers have said, all our Bills are being pushed back by 12 months. It takes ages for legislation to get through this House.”
“We need more legislators like her - people who do not just speak about compassion but build it into law. This Bill represents what politics can be, which is collaborative, people-focused and rooted in lived experiences. I think about the many women in Cork North-West who have spoken to me about the impossible situations they faced. A mother in Macroom told me she could not take a refuge place in Cork city because she had no way to get her two children to the school. She had to stay in an abusive situation. Another woman spent her first week after fleeing home relying on neighbours to drive her to GP and court appointments. It takes courage to walk way. It is not a simple decision and, for many of these women, it is a life-or-death situation. Women are most in danger when they leave. The Bill is not proposing to change the whole system.”
“The pass will look identical to any other travel pass, and it could be issued discreetly through approved domestic, sexual, and gender-based violence, DSGBV, organisations under Cuan, ensuring that dignity, safety and confidentiality remain at the centre of all of this. That is how policy should be made - empathetically, practically and with respect for people. I want to take a moment to commend Senator Stephenson and the Cross-Party Group, who brought this forward. Senator Stephenson has been an outstanding advocate for those voices that are too often unheard, survivors from minority groups and all those who live along the shadows of abuse. Her dedication to the domestic violence sector, her sensitivity to the realities faced by the survivors and her ability to bring people together across political lines are to be applauded.”
“We live in a very rural area. The closest refuge to my constituency is in Cork city. If someone is trying to uproot a family from Charleville to bring them to Cork city, travel is then another barrier because our travel infrastructure in Cork North-West is not great. We do not have great public transport there. It is just ludicrous to think that the Government would push back on something as simple as this. We know that domestic violence does not just destroy safety. It drives people into poverty. The Bill acknowledges the truth and acts to ease it, providing a lifeline in those fragile first months for someone who has fled violence. What makes the scheme so well designed and thought-out is its emphasis on privacy and trauma-informed access. Survivors will not have to recount their stories again and again to strangers at a ticket desk.”
“What can a woman who is fleeing her home do in 12 weeks' time? Nothing. From the women I have been speaking to, I have heard them say they would rather stay in the abuse than face homelessness. That is the reality people are facing on the ground. Therefore, it is well and good to say these supports are here, that it is great and that we are doing it bit by bit, but it is not enough because women are choosing to stay. I have met with the superintendents in my constituency in Cork North-West. We have the second largest number of domestic incident reports to the Garda. Last year, over 600 incidents were reported, and those are the ones that were reported. The Garda also works with people who do not report incidents and whom it tries to get out of these situations but they are so sensitive and so delicate. Yet, we do not have a refuge.”
“It is simple, survivor-centred and powerful because sometimes the difference between staying and escaping is something as basic as having the means to go on a bus or train. For many women and children, leaving the home means leaving behind their job, school and community and starting from scratch. Too often, survivors are moved to refuges that are far from their homes and far from the support networks simply because that is where the space is available. Then come the costs of travelling to court hearings, meeting solicitors, going to counselling appointments, bringing children to new schools or simply travelling to work to try to keep a life stable. Housing supports were mentioned and, yes, emergency housing is well and truly needed for people who are fleeing this, but the emergency housing is for 12 weeks.”
“I strongly support the domestic violence Bill 2025, which is compassionate, practical and deeply necessary legislation that will make real and measurable differences in people's lives. At the heart of this Bill, it is about dignity, as Senator Stephenson said. It is about recognising that when a person, most often a woman, makes the decision to flee a violent home, that decision comes with enormous personal, emotional and financial cost. It is about understanding that the journey to safety should not be one more barrier, one more source of fear or one more bill that pushed a survivor into further hardship. The Bill creates what is being called a safe passage travel scheme. It is a three-month free travel pass. It is three months; it is not 12 years. It is three months to give someone breathing room to try to escape a situation.”
“The motion is about fairness, equality and the future of our communities. Families are not asking for luxuries, they are asking for the basics of an affordable place, a qualified educator and a bit of stability. The truth is they are still waiting. Instead of patting ourselves on the back we need to get on with the work. We need to build a public model of early years education that treats childcare as essential infrastructure which does not force parents to choose between a career and their children, and finally delivers on all of the promises that have been awaited far too long.”
“Senator Kyne’s amendment might make for a nice Department briefing but it completely ignores what is happening on the ground. It is detached and frankly insulting to those who live with this crisis every day. We are not here to congratulate the Government on how well it thinks it is doing, we are here to tell the truth about how far short it is falling. If things were working as well as the amendment suggests, we would not have parents in tears at kitchen tables wondering how they will pay next month's bill. Childcare should be a public service and not a private burden. It should enable parents, especially mothers, to participate fully in work and not push them out of it. It should give every child the best start in life and not just those of parents who can afford the fees.”
“Senator Kyne’s amendment is quite extraordinary. It reads like the Government is patting itself on the back while parents are barely hanging on. It speaks of unprecedented growth in funding, major achievements, award-winning models and pathways set out in the programme for Government. It speaks not once to the lived experience of families struggling right now. Government Senators can quote all the percentages and policy frameworks they like but none of that will change the fact parents are paying well over €1,000 per month for a service they can hardly find. None of it helps a mother who is driving 40 minutes each way because every crèche close to her home is full. None of it helps the early years educator earning less than a supermarket cashier, despite holding a degree and caring for our most precious little ones.”
“That level of anxiety and planning years in advance is not normal, healthy or fair. Families are trapped in a system that simply does not work. While there are stay-at-home fathers, it is mostly women, as always, who pay the highest price. Too many are being forced to step back or step away from their careers entirely because it does not make financial sense to work when all their earnings go straight to paying childcare fees. This motion is welcome because it faces the truth head-on. It recognises the current model is broken and is failing families, educators and children alike. What is needed is not another glossy press release but real structural change, like investment in a public model that delivers €10 per day childcare, fair pay for early educators and capacity where families actually live.”
“I support this motion, which is not just welcome but urgently needed. Across the constituency of Cork North-West, from Millstreet to Macroom and Charleville to Ballyvourney, I hear stories from parents and providers alike. Families are under pressure. Parents are going out to work to pay for childcare. In many cases, their monthly fees are higher than their mortgage. For a young mother in Kanturk or father in Newmarket that means going to work not to get ahead or save for the future, but simply to keep their place in the crèche. That is the reality of what is happening. Spaces are scarce everywhere but in rural Ireland it is even worse. Mothers who have only just found out they are pregnant are putting their unborn children on waiting lists, hoping and praying that by the time the maternity leave ends a space might open up.”
“They can only use their Leap card from Mallow. Essentially we are saying people cannot use their Leap card and, equally, there is no improvement to the service that only leaves Banteer at 8.25 a.m.”
“I would have to conduct a survey because I do not know how many students are affected. It was just one constituent and one mother who came to me about the matter. Banteer has no bus service at all. The earliest train from Banteer to Cork Kent Station on a Monday morning is at 8.25 a.m., which means that students cannot make their 9 a.m. class because the train only arrives at Cork Kent Station just after 9 o'clock. On the ministerial response, I know the rail service is not entirely the brief of the Minister of State but what we saying to students right now is that they cannot use their Leap card because that option does not extend to Banteer or Millstreet. Young students and people who have a Leap card cannot use their card to pay for travel between Millstreet and Cork Kent or Banteer and Cork Kent.”
“This is about giving rural students a fair start and saying where you are from should not determine the opportunities you can access or how much you have to pay for them. Today, therefore, I am asking that the Leap card be extended to Banteer and Millstreet and for the Minister of State to try to restore the early Monday morning service. These students have already overcome so much and they deserve the very best. Just for us to make their journeys to education a little bit easier should not have to cost the world.”
“Whether it is transport, broadband, housing or healthcare, there is always an extra cost, an extra hurdle and the extra things they just do not qualify for. All we are asking for is a bit of fairness. Can the Minister of State please extend Leap card access or provide fare parity to include journeys from Banteer and Millstreet to Cork city to ensure students are not penalised because of where they live? If there are technical or infrastructure barriers, could the Minister of State please outline a clear and immediate plan to address them and provide an interim fare solution in the meantime? Can the Monday morning gap in the timetable also be addressed to ensure there are services from Banteer that allow students to reach Cork city before 9 a.m.?”
“To make matters worse, the early morning service from Banteer to Cork city does not run on Mondays. There is a train at 7 a.m. on every other weekday that allows students to reach UCC, or Munster Technological University, MTU, for 9 a.m. lectures. On Mondays, however, the first train is not until 8.25 a.m., which is far too late for morning classes. What happens? Students then have to make other arrangements. Some travel to Mallow by car just to catch the early train, adding extra expense and time to already long days. Others simply miss out on their Monday lectures. It is a small scheduling gap but it has big impacts for these students. Rural students are doing everything right and they are constantly reminded their communities do not count in the same way.”
“It is not fair that two students sitting side by side on the same train pay two completely different fares simply because one lives a few stops further into rural Ireland. This is not just about the cost; it is about opportunity and fairness. Many of these students live in Banteer, Millstreet, Kanturk and the surrounding areas simply because they cannot find or afford accommodation in the city. The accommodation crisis has pushed them home, not by choice but by necessity. When we are talking about regional development and sustainable transport, this is what really matters. These young people are trying to do the right thing. They have made it to college despite every obstacle, like rising rents, housing shortages and limited public transport, yet they are being penalised because they live outside the commuter belt.”
“I thank the Minister of State for being here today. This matter concerns the lack of Leap card access for journeys starting from Banteer and Millstreet to Cork city, and the absence of an early train from Banteer, which is an issue that forces students to make impossible choices every week. A woman in my constituency reached out to let me know that her daughter travels to college in Cork every day. She works part time and studies full time. Like so many others, she is doing her best to make it work. Because Leap card fares only apply from Mallow to Cork and not from Banteer and Millstreet, her daily journey costs considerably more. For young students, the difference does add up. Over a week, that is money that could have been put towards groceries, potential rent or even just a small bit of breathing room.”