Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am not racist in any way. These people are in dire need. However, refugees are currently having to sleep in the Red Cow Moran Hotel. The Irish Refugee Council has raised concerns about the accommodation issue, as was reported on the news yesterday. That aside, there will be a similar situation in our schools in September, October and November. I have engaged with schools in my own constituency and they have reported that they do not have the places to take more Ukrainian refugees. They do not have the space in the classrooms or the teacher allocation required to do so. The other children, including the Ukrainian children who are already there, are falling behind because more is expected of the staff. Do we call a halt to it and admit that we have to take a breather for a period of six or seven months because we cannot take any more refugees, and then re-evaluate the situation before taking in more refugees, or do we just continue to take in refugees and give them an education that is not up to standard? Do we just put the children into a classroom so we can say that they are being educated, when they are not being educated to standard? The Government has some very difficult questions to ask itself. The agencies also have to answer some very difficult questions. Do we just continue to take people in and not educate them to a standard, whether in Irish, English or other subjects? The system is creaking at its foundations. We have to ask ourselves some very difficult questions and make some difficult choices. I am interested in hearing the witnesses' perspectives on that.