Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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581. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he has received correspondence from a person (details supplied); if he has considered actions to address this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17699/22]

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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589. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills when two students (details supplied) who were studying in Ukraine will be able to continue their medical studies here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18268/22]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 581 and 589 together.

I can confirm my Department has received correspondence from the person(s) detailed and my officials have already been in contact with them regarding continuing their studies in Ireland.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, my Department has received a very large volume of enquiries, from Irish students who were studying in Ukraine, from Ukrainian and students from third countries studying in Ukraine, and from those making representations of their behalf. My officials are dealing with this correspondence as it comes into the Department and are actively engaging with these students, updating them as recently as last week as soon as further information on progress becomes available.

Recently, officials from my Department met with the Deans of the Medical Schools and as a result, the Deans are now undertaking an assessment of the programmes in the medical schools in Ukraine. A key element of this process will be to align the Irish students’ Ukrainian programme with the Irish system of medical and dentistry education, along with other issues arising regarding accreditation by the professional bodies. This exercise will then enable us to see how best we can facilitate these students in continuing with their studies in Ireland.

As recently advised by my officials, this process may take up to two weeks, and at that stage, all persons will be contacted.