Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

During the summer recess - a part of the year when we all have a bit more time on our hands - we in Dublin Mid-West decided to write to all 60 schools in the constituency. We received responses from 20 of them and have met with the management in all those cases. There is a wide range of issues in schools, as the Minister knows, but I was reminded while he was speaking of one of the issues that was raised. What conversations or interactions does he have with the Department of Education around school places for either Ukrainian nationals or international protection applicants? What seems to be happening is that schools located closest to the hotels and centres where people are placed are inundated with applications. People have been walking to them and looking for places for their children. In other parts of my constituency, the schools have had no such applications. There seems to be an ad hockind of arrangement whereby people fleeing here from Ukraine or elsewhere and seeking international protection are having to find school places for their children themselves, without support from the Department of Education. In fairness to the people we met in the various schools, they were more than willing to help as many children as possible, if they have the resources, and do their bit in a humanitarian crisis. What engagement has the Minister had with the Department of Education on that issue?