Sorca Clarke — 2025-12-16

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate

CC Sorca Clarke · Longford-Westmeath · An Cathaoirleach Gníomhach

Party shown is the one held on 2025-12-16, frozen at parse time — not the speaker's party today.

Summary of this debate

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We just cannot continue the practice of taxiing children out of their local community when there is a local school like Scoil Bhríde in Lackagh available to them within their own local area. All we want for Xmas this year is for a school place for [our child] in... his local school. The NCSE expects to start sanctioning new special classes for the 2026-27 school year shortly and the Department and the NCSE continue to consider options for increasing special school capacity.

A key focus will be on establishing new special classes in schools without an existing special class such as the school referred to by the Deputy, Scoil Bhríde in Lackagh. My office is inundated, as are I am sure the Minister of State's office and those of all Deputies, with parents looking for that special school place or that special school.

Built by scoring every sentence in the debate on how distinctive its language is, then quoting the highest-scoring ones back word for word and in the order spoken. Nothing is paraphrased or invented — if a sentence appears here, it was said in the chamber. Drawn from 8,536 words across 23 contributions by 8 speakers.

Most used terms in this debate

How often each word appears across the whole debate, ranked by how distinctive it is to this debate rather than common to all parliamentary language.

school 61

special 40

lackagh 10

leave 33

sahara 11

uisce 16

ncse 14

morocco 9

resolution 18

carer's 12

bhríde 8

teacher 13

The full debate

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CC Sorca Clarke this contribution

The Minister, Deputy McEntee, is to reply to the first Topical Issue. She has indicated she needs to leave the Chamber briefly to obtain documentation. The Minister of State, Deputy Harkin, is in the Chamber and is willing to reply to Deputy Wall's matter if it is taken before the first Topical Issue. On second thoughts, we will not mess with a well-designed plan and will leave the order as is. We are two hours ahead of schedule. I will pause for a moment to give the Minister a chance to return.