Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their presentations. I am concerned about an issue that I have raised directly with the Minister, namely, the carrying out of an assessment of the impact that the large number of students entering our education system will have. Some assessment should have been done in order to plan adequately and be prepared for the unprecedented situation we are now facing. An assessment would have been key. What are the witnesses’ thoughts on this point?

I have been contacted by many schools that have not been consulted or collaborated with by the Department of Education. It appears that there are gaps that need to be addressed and that there should be more collaboration. Have the witnesses discovered the same? I am sure they have.

There are already large gaps in special education provision. In County Offaly where I am from, we have no special educational needs organiser, SENO. For the Ukrainian children who have come to County Offaly, there is no SENO. The gaps need to be addressed. Are the witnesses’ organisations also encountering this issue of there being no one in place to deal with a situation or allocate the resources that children fleeing war need? I imagine that it is an issue across the country and not just in my county.

I would like to hear the witnesses’ thoughts on the need for an assessment. It is not too late to carry one out. We should be conducting one. The wait-and-see approach could cause problems and we do not want one crisis unintentionally creating another.