Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Children and young people who are fleeing Ukraine have had their whole lives uprooted in the most horrendous of circumstances. We need to provide them with some sort of normality as soon as possible and that necessarily entails prompt access to education. Principals and school boards across the country have made incredible efforts to find space in our schools for Ukrainian children. It is a remarkable effort. School communities have rallied around Ukrainian children and young people, donating uniforms and books. I acknowledge the Minister's announcements last Friday on regional education and language teams to co-ordinate supports for Ukrainian students.

More can and must be done, however, to ensure that all the necessary educational supports are available in a timely and accessible manner to those arriving from Ukraine. For many parents, one of their first priorities is to try to give their child some sense of normality and some sense of socialisation, and a school is central to that. It is important that we do not lose sight of the other refugees not from Ukraine who are coming to this country. Of course, the Ukraine group is the largest in scale. I visited Mount Sion Primary School in Waterford on Friday and the principal was five or ten minutes late because they were dealing with an Afghan family who had just arrived into the school. We need to deal with those challenges as well and treat all equally.

While schools have shown enormous generosity and goodwill, it is inevitable that taking in additional students will put pressure on stretched resources. It is crucial the Department provides the funds necessary for schools to facilitate these students. A centralised Ukraine assistance fund that schools can directly apply to - for example, to meet the cost of additional furniture, books, uniforms and all that is required - would be of value. I raised previously the need for additional language support teachers, which is important. To alleviate the pressure on that until the Minister can put it in place, I reiterate my call for a database to be set up of both school-aged children and teaching staff who have arrived from Ukraine and their location on the island. A further database of schools across the country, which have indicated that they have space, should be published on the Department's website so Ukrainian families can get their child settled into a local school as soon as possible.

We need a cross-departmental approach to supporting these children and young people and I would urge the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, to work in tandem to provide holistic mental health supports as they are required to ensure these young children are integrated into their communities. I will continue to work, along with the Minister, Deputy Foley, to ensure all the educational supports necessary are provided to Ukrainian families in Ireland.

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