Results 841-860 of 3,935 for speaker:Sorca Clarke

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services Waiting Lists (20 Feb 2024)

Sorca Clarke: 640. To ask the Minister for Health the number of children on waiting lists in tabular form per county for dental treatment. [8104/24]

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Special Educational Needs (15 Feb 2024)

Sorca Clarke: The Minister of State said there are more special education teachers than ever before. There is also evidence that classrooms have a higher percentage of children with additional needs than ever before. I go back to that broken system that Inclusion Ireland spoke of. The Minister of State is familiar with Sarah Dooley, who has been in contact with her office. This is the real-life impact...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Special Educational Needs (15 Feb 2024)

Sorca Clarke: Deputy Ó Ríordáin is not here yet and he is listed to speak first, but we will go ahead.

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Special Educational Needs (15 Feb 2024)

Sorca Clarke: Every child has a constitutional right to an education and everyone agrees that no child should be left behind. Last month, the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, published its report, An Inclusive Education for an Inclusive Society, which shows a majority of those who engaged with the consultation agreed that children, even those with special educational needs, should be educated...

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: School Transport (14 Feb 2024)

Sorca Clarke: 133. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when she intends to bring the school transport review to Cabinet. [6708/24]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Transport (13 Feb 2024)

Sorca Clarke: 79. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to provide an update on the school transport review. [6205/24]

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Transport (13 Feb 2024)

Sorca Clarke: The Minister answered this question to a degree in one of her earlier replies. Will she please provide an update on the school transport review?

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Transport (13 Feb 2024)

Sorca Clarke: The Minister is correct that the review has been extensive. That is one way to describe it. It has been going on since February 2021. The Minister said earlier that she would have the review published by the end of March. Does she envisage the report, and the review in its entirety, being published at that time? The school transport system is quite unique in that parents, students and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: School Transport (13 Feb 2024)

Sorca Clarke: As I said, we all want this to work and to work effectively. I again ask the Minister what impact she sees this review, to be published by the end of the first quarter of this year, having on applications for school students for the 2024-25 school year. The significant reduction in the number of vehicles on the road will not be lost on anybody who has been in a car during the mid-term...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Special Educational Needs (13 Feb 2024)

Sorca Clarke: According to a poll by the National Principals Forum, 76.4% of primary school principals say the SET allocations for 2024-25 do not meet the needs of children with additional needs and that the allocation for the academic year is wholly inadequate. Three pillars are identified in the circular that was put out, that is, the enrolment allocation, the educational teaching profile, which is the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: State Examinations (13 Feb 2024)

Sorca Clarke: 67. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills what engagements she has had with the State Examinations Commission with regard to the oral examinations due to take place over the Easter break. [6202/24]

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: State Examinations (13 Feb 2024)

Sorca Clarke: Many parents and teachers have raised with me very valid concerns about the oral examinations due to take place over the Easter break. Will the Minister outline what engagements she has had with the State Examinations Commission, SEC, on those oral examinations due to take place over the Easter break?

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: State Examinations (13 Feb 2024)

Sorca Clarke: The Minister said there is the extra payment to examiners. I spoke to a principal of a school with three autism classes where five students are due to sit their leaving certificate this year. When that principal spoke to the SEC oral section to inquire as to what supports would be available for those students in terms of an SNA, the principal was told that nothing would be made available....

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: State Examinations (13 Feb 2024)

Sorca Clarke: What can be put in place this year for the students with special educational needs to receive the necessary accommodations for the oral exams? It seems to me that instead of creating a system that tailors oral examinations to meet the needs of students and actually caters towards their need regardless of their educational ability, this scheme does the exact opposite. When I asked a...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Transport (13 Feb 2024)

Sorca Clarke: We all recognise that movement is needed here. I do not for a moment underestimate the impact these escorts have in allowing children to access education, as is their constitutional right, where they present with that level of need. Will the Minister confirm what I think I heard her say, which is that the school transport review is now complete? I am talking about the school transport...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Transport (13 Feb 2024)

Sorca Clarke: 65. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will carry out a full and comprehensive review of the pay and working conditions of school bus escorts. [6201/24]

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Transport (13 Feb 2024)

Sorca Clarke: I wish to ask the Minister for Education if she will carry out a full and comprehensive review of the pay and working conditions of school bus escorts.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: School Transport (13 Feb 2024)

Sorca Clarke: I note that the first part of the Minister's response was, essentially, verbatim to a parliamentary question reply given to my colleague, Deputy Mac Lochlainn, last November. I welcome what the Minister mentioned about the SNA reviews and, let us be honest, an awful lot of school escorts are also SNAs but not all. I wish to draw the attention of the House to the reality. The education...

Reform of the Television Licence Fee Model: Motion [Private Members] (13 Feb 2024)

Sorca Clarke: There is no doubt that the financial scandals in RTÉ have rocked people's trust and confidence in both the national broadcaster and the television licence system. The drip-feed of information from RTÉ has caused huge reputational damage and displayed a level of abuse of the trust taxpayers placed in it from which it will take a long time, if ever, to recover. From the Toy Show The...

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (13 Feb 2024)

Sorca Clarke: The Department of Education has reduced the criteria for the allocation of special education teacher hours and removed the complex needs criteria from the calculation. Some 76% of principals of primary schools say the 2024-25 allocation does not meet the needs of children for the upcoming academic year and is wholly inadequate, while 37% reported a decrease in their allocations despite...