Ms Meg Ryan:

It is my pleasure to be attending today. I am the lead caseworker on the migration services team of the Irish Red Cross. To give some context to my role on the team, the Irish Red Cross is tasked under its mandate as an auxiliary to the Government to co-ordinate offers of support from the public, to support the placement of refugees into accommodation and to support the social integration of refugees at community level.

The strategic goal of the programme is to enable refugees in Ireland to integrate into Irish society and achieve their potential. The Irish Red Cross has been providing support in this regard to the Government since 2015 to assist in the fulfilment of its EU commitment to promote the resettlement and integration of refugees under the Irish refugee protection programme. In addition to the cohort of Ukrainian people with whom we are currently working, the migration services team also works with numerous people from Syria and Afghanistan and supports community sponsorship programmes.

The migration services team has been working in co-ordination with the Government and partner organisations to assist in the Irish nation’s response to the war in Ukraine. The caseworker team provides active casework support to Ukrainians in Ireland through the matching of suitable accommodation and providing support to essential needs, such as access to medical support, social welfare and education, where required, in association with relevant Departments.

Regarding the purpose of today’s meeting, when discussing education and supports provision for displaced Ukrainian students, my main questions will be raised from a caseworker perspective, and will be influenced by the experiences I have witnessed with my clients. The main struggle I have seen evidenced among parents in Ireland is finding suitable access to school places in Ireland. With many schools already at capacity and with waiting lists, not all Ukrainian children have easy access to Irish education.

Access to additional language support and English lessons will ease much of the tension felt by students who have been thrown into a new learning environment in a foreign language but it would be my

recommendation to extend these supports within schools to include parents also. The provision of psychological supports for Ukrainian students in Ireland requires either appropriate language support for translation or a system whereby Ukrainian health care professionals in Ireland are given the means to practise in the State.

I look forward to today's discussion.