Eileen Flynn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for coming before the committee today. As members have already said, I welcome everything the Department has done to support Ukrainian people coming into the country. It is the right thing to do. I give credit to the Department for that.

Without repeating questions or going into the numbers, I will focus on the point that this situation will evolve. This time next year, we will have a different conversation about the numbers of, for example, mature students from Ukraine who are going into third level education. I raise the issue of people with learning difficulties going into higher education. I understand that at the moment there is not a high number of these people in third level education, and I accept that. However, I am sure that people at any age can get diagnosed with dyslexia. Are there supports for people from Ukraine who have learning difficulties? On the issue of pathways, because I am sure there are different levels of economic inequality in Ukraine just like there are here in Ireland, are there pathways in place for these students to go to colleges, in terms of QQI levels, colleges etc.? My question is probably for this time next year. However, even if we only had ten people going to college, it would be important that we would meet their needs. This is especially the case for people with learning difficulties. I am sure that is tough when English is not your first language, as well having a learning difficulty.

I would be interested to know about interpreters. Sitting here, I do not even know what kind of interpreters there are for people who are deaf, for example. How will we deal with this? I know that I have raised many questions, many of which will need to be addressed next year, rather than here and now. However, I would be interested to know where we are with people with learning disabilities and what supports have been put in place for third level. Those are my questions.