Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Cathaoirleach. I will endeavour to fill that minute well. This is the central challenge facing our education system at present. We are talking about 6,000 children arriving and presenting with a very specific, but complex, set of needs. In trying to get my head around it, I was trying to tease through what my central concerns were in terms of providing the most appropriate education that is cognisant of those specific needs. I was trying to think my way through the headings. We have to have an understanding of the children's previous learning. I am not sure that we are doing so but that question is probably more important to the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, NCCA. The maths curriculum jumps out at me. If a Ukrainian child arrives into third class in an Irish-context school, does that third-class teacher have an understanding of the similar curriculum in Ukraine and of whether the child will have hit long multiplication or decimals at this stage?

Certainly, as a teacher, I would very much like to have that information at my fingertips.

We have spoken about the inherent trauma of dislocation and about NEPS psychologists. However, we must acknowledge that we were at and beyond capacity of provision before there was a Ukrainian crisis. There are specific language needs in the provision of English. I was in the same school on Monday and was talking to Michael Walsh. We must acknowledge that Ukrainian students are getting the support where the Afghan or Syrian students who sit beside them are not. That has to be addressed.

There must be an understanding of the specific context of the Ukrainians who are arriving. We have spoken a lot about mobility. They will first arrive into Citywest and then move to somewhere like Gracedieu in Waterford. As they find their feet in a few months, they will start to make decisions themselves about where in Ireland they want to live. Therefore we must look at three locations where there are immediate, medium-term and long-term solutions.

As far as I can see, there is an absence of a Europe-wide approach. If a child first lands in Poland for a couple of weeks - I will ask Ms Ryan to give a Red Cross, international overview in a second - is there any sort of coherence in the provision in Poland or Moldova by the time they arrive in Ireland?

Mr. Henderson and Ms Moran spoke of the medium-term hope that the conflict will cease and these people will return to where they want to be. The Gaeilge exemption kind of goes to the heart of the matter on this. Are we considering this medium-term to long-term approach? I am very much an advocate of teaching the Irish language within our primary and secondary schools but is it a good use of these children's time? If my child was dislocated and arrived somewhere I would hope that they would have English language and Irish language provision where they arrived. Are we providing Ukrainian language classes for them? Are we providing Russian language classes for those from the east of Ukraine who are most affected by the conflict and comprise a proportionately higher number of Russian speakers?

I am wasting the extra minute that the Chair gave me.

Ms Ryan is a case worker in the Red Cross. We are more than 100 days into the conflict. Have we any sense of the actual population flows in Europe? What pattern is emerging? When these people arrive in Ireland, as I said, there are likely to be immediate, medium-term and long-term responses. Are we beginning to see a pattern where Ukrainian refugees find their feet and self-sort themselves to get where they want to go?