Ms Marian Duggan:

My own institute is running an international refugee week this week, the purpose of which is to raise awareness of the difficulties and barriers that refugees, asylum seekers and migrants face in both accessing and continuing on in higher education. I welcome that the Department has decided that Ukrainian students are not going to be classed as international students and will not, therefore, have to pay higher fees. That is an important response for Ukrainian refugees. However, other refugees from places like Syria or Iraq are deemed to be international students so a measure that has been put in place to deal with this, including at my own institute, is the sanctuary scholarship. Sanctuary scholarships, which are available across the sector, involve institutes of education liaising with charities involved in supporting refugees to enable refugees to engage in higher education. I also welcome confirmation from the Department as of yesterday that Ukrainian refugees will be entitled to claim SUSI grants. However, I hope that the measures being put in place for Ukrainian refugees can be extended to all refugees who find their way into higher education here in Ireland.