Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There are more than 17,700 Ukrainian students and others in the education system at the moment. It has been an enormous feat by the schools on the ground to accommodate these students so seamlessly. It is also interesting to note that we have the highest enrolment in our schools in Europe, which is impressive. We now have more than 136 Ukrainian teachers in our system, who are registered with the Teaching Council. The Ukrainian language will be on the leaving certificate examination as a non-curricular language for June 2025 and so on. I absolutely accept that schools have moved heaven and earth to facilitate them coming.

It depends what kind of flexibility the Deputy is looking for. We have to recognise that if a school has a need a given time and it is removed, that need is somewhere else. We also have to have that element of flexibility. There is always a willingness to look at the situation in an individual school and to take on board the circumstances that might arise. That will not change. We will look at the individual circumstances of the school.