Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The witnesses are all very welcome. I thank them very much for their comprehensive overviews. I listened very attentively and a large part of what they are talking about is access to more therapeutic mental health services, more urgent assessments and English language supports. We would expect many of those services in schools in any case but that all needs to be stepped up. Obviously, it is a job for the Department of Education to quantify that. Do the witnesses have an idea of the quantities we might be missing at the moment to support the numbers of children that are coming in?

Deputy Ó Ríordáin mentioned that he felt it was correct for this to fall under the remit of the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. I certainly think that is true. I take the point Mr. Henderson mentioned, however, which is that we now require long-term planning and it falls to other Departments to do that. Part of that is accommodation. Nobody wants to move children from one place to another but we need to ensure that parents have access to jobs and accommodation. That is the reason it is done. It is weighing up what is in the best interest of the children overall and putting in the supports. The witnesses might comment on what might be needed in a long-term plan from other Departments outside of that integration piece.

It is also important to recognise the really positive contribution Ukrainian people are making in the lives of Irish people. My daughter and her best friend, who is Moldovan, were asked to do a passion project in their school and their passion project was Ukraine. It really has captured children's imaginations. That is also a really unique opportunity for us that will have long-term benefits if we all get this right and live in harmony with each other.