Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State. I note that she did not answer the question on the number of children with special educational needs are without a school place. At the moment, we are seeing people such as Sarah Dooley, a lady about whom I have spoken before in this House. She applied to 20 schools before her twins were offered places. These are twins with very high needs. They now face an hour-and-a-half round trip to the school at which they have managed to secure a place. She is glad they have a place, but she is certainly not grateful for the distance her children have to be travelled. It is pulling them out of their community and away from their peers.

The children who do not have an adequate school place either now or for September are the ones we see being put on reduced timetables, excluded from schools and at the highest level of potential educational disadvantage. I spoke to one mother last week who told me she has a path worn to the SENO and the NCSE and there is still no offer beyond home tuition. This woman is a professional who holds down a full-time job.

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