Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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710. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if his Department is taking measures to ensure that those who had started third-level education in Ukraine can complete their qualifications here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14188/22]

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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711. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if his Department will provide mechanisms for those coming from Ukraine who were due to complete second level this academic year to access third level education in the next academic year here without having to sit examinations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14189/22]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 710 and 711 together.

The people of Ukraine have had a horrendous war thrust upon them and the Government and the EU have been united and unequivocal in our condemnation of Russia's aggression. I am particularly proud of the generous spirit the Irish people have displayed to those displaced by the war, and this has been mirrored in the response by Government.

There has been an open response from Irish Universities in terms of facilitating the further studies of those arriving from Ukraine. The EU, the Irish Government and my Department are all acting in support of that goal, and we are working on developing our common understanding of the educational and training supports required by Ukrainians coming to the EU.

I am also aware of 50 Irish students who were studying medicine and dentistry in the Ukraine, and my Department is in contact these students with a view to establishing, in the first instance their safety, and also to seek certain baseline information regarding their studies.

A key element of this any process to facilitate access to further and higher education studies is to align the prospective students’ programme with the Irish education system, and then to see what measures to support their continued study can be deployed.

Officials in Department are working very closely with higher education representatives to achieve this goal.

Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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712. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the measures that he will take to ensure that those with Ukrainian qualifications will have those qualifications recognised in this State by employers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14190/22]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) hosts NARIC Ireland which provides advice on the academic recognition of a foreign qualification by comparing it to a major award type and level on the Irish National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ). The QQI NARIC database currently lists 14 Ukrainian qualifications, comparable to levels 3-10 on the NFQ, including general professional and higher education.

NARIC Ireland is working with the NARIC network across Europe to continue building the list of Ukrainian qualifications.  The NARIC Guide has recently been translated into Ukrainian and the Guide is also available in Polish, English and Russian, which many Ukrainian citizens also speak.

The NARIC service also helps to inform employers to determine if an applicant holds the academic qualifications necessary for a particular job or employment opportunity.

SOLAS operates a system whereby individuals coming to Ireland with foreign further education and training qualifications can apply to have these qualifications assessed for equivalency. 

On 18 March I signed a statement on behalf of Ireland condemning Russia's aggression against Ukraine.

The key aim of this statement is to signal support for higher education students and staff in Ukraine and to suspend Russia’s rights of representation on all structures and activities of the European  Higher Education Area (EHEA).

Whilst the purpose of the statement is to ensure that those affected by the war can access higher education, there is also a collective agreement that Ukrainian students should be treated as EU citizens and offered the same access and supports to pursue higher education in Ireland as those from Member States.