Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will send the clerk to the committee a detailed note on MSCA4Ukraine. It will be done through the Irish Universities Association. I will get Deputy Ó Cathasaigh more detail on that. My best answer on the difference in the figures, about which the Deputy is right, is that the larger figure is the number of people who we know fall within an age group that may well be in third level education or likely to access it. That compares and contrasts with the number who have come forward so far. This is a world of anecdote but I have been in many parts of the country recently and have been talking to people from Ukraine. For many people who have fled a war zone, the priorities are shelter, food, family and safety. Only as people begin to settle more in our country will they begin think about what is next. That is why I indicated in my opening statement that I expect the number to grow and for that to converge more in the weeks and months ahead, especially over the summer period, as we begin the new academic year. We are certainly seeing the number of calls to the central point tick up in a way that suggests that is probably the case.

With regard to the English language, anyone who arrives here through section 60 is covered. There is a broader point, which is not for today because I will not have time to answer, about some of the very good things we are doing in welcoming to our country people who have fled war zones. Perhaps we can learn from that more broadly. I am thinking of people from Afghanistan as an example. I met a very good organisation today called Open Door. It works with people from marginalised groups, beyond just displaced people from Ukraine. There are lessons we can learn more broadly.

Does Deputy Ó Cathasaigh want to come back in?