Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 14 June 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Skills

Education and Supports Provision for Displaced Ukrainian Students: Discussion

Mr. Nick Henderson:

I do not have an immediate answer to the Senator's first question but I suppose it is about getting the building blocks in place. Do we have the data yet as to where people are? Do we have a mapping of the services? Do we know what existing services need in addition to what they are already doing, bearing in mind that many servicers are already quite exhausted? Are we able to do needs assessments for the children themselves? I do not think we are at that stage. As colleagues said, with two and a half months to go until the start of the new school term, there is an opportunity to try to put those things in place but it would be quite a substantial piece of work. It is essential, however, if we are going to start September with a more organised system in place.