Ms Catherine Kelly:

It is a pertinent question. If one looks at any of the research, it will talk about the fact that, if people do not learn the language of the host country or if the culture of the host country is not aligned to the culture from which they come, it will present difficulties for their mental health and for settling into that country. This is about early access to school for children and having interpreters for them in school.

As a country, we have to do our bit to begin to learn the language as well in order that we can proactively have conversations and communication with people. The Irish Government has done things that have been helpful. Giving people that phone and SIM card when they go to Dublin Airport is great because they have simple apps like Google Translate or Duolingo for people to begin to learn the language. It is something that really does need to be looked at, however.

For children with disabilities, we are looking at occupational therapies, OT, creating social stories for people that are visual and have that translation of language. We had to do that for the journey from Lublin back to Ireland. AsIAm facilitated interpretation for the children whereby they had a social story on what was happening. If we look at the world in which they have landed at the moment and in which they are trying to even process or make sense of any of that information, trying to explain that in a language that is alien to them is very difficult. This is where the right resources and therapeutic interventions need to be put in place for these children and adults with disabilities.