Ms Nuala Ward:

We have done a lot of work in relation to direct provision so I will not repeat it here. As the Deputy knows, we consult with children living in direct provision and they told us very powerful stories. One of their key asks is that teachers are trained in intercultural awareness and are provided with guidance and supports to understand the different countries and ethnicities the children come from and how they can help them integrate further into the community. That was really powerful.

We also did an investigation, coming up to 12 months ago, where we raised concerns about the safety and welfare of children in direct provision centres. We are pursuing it now with the Department and Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, to see how much progress has been made in that regard. We will publish our update on the investigation and we hope that will shine a light on exactly what the impact has been on all children seeking international protection in Ireland, arising from the Ukraine crisis. I hope we will touch on the education sector as well.