Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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82. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if additional resources and funding will be provided for schools integrating refugee and asylum-seeking children, ensuring they receive the necessary academic and social supports; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27520/24]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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My Department is committed to delivering an education system that is of the highest quality, and where every child and young person feels valued and is actively supported and nurtured to reach their full potential. In Ireland, all migrant children, including children of international protection applicants, children of migrant workers and unaccompanied minors can access primary and post-primary education.

Supports and resources accessible in all schools to support the needs of migrant children have increased significantly over the last number of years with the rise in the numbers of IPAS arrivals and particularity in response to the thousands of children and young people arriving from Ukraine since the outbreak of the war in 2022. As of the 18th of June 2024, 18,113 pupils from Ukraine were formally enrolled in schools across the country.

Provision of additional supports and resources aim to ensure that all school-aged migrant children have access to a high-quality inclusive education within the mainstream setting in order to benefit fully from our school system.

The Migrant Integration Strategy was published in 2017 and sets out the Government’s commitment to the promotion of migrant integration as a key part of Ireland’s renewal and as an underpinning principle of Irish society. The Strategy provides a framework for a range of actions to support migrants to participate fully in Irish life; these actions are designed to support the integration process, as well as to identify and address any remaining barriers to integration.

A key element of the Strategy’s vision is for migrants, and particularly their children, to benefit fully from the education system. Education-related actions include enactment of the Education (Admission to Schools) Bill 2016, and to keep the adequacy of language supports in schools under review. The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) who have responsibility for the Strategy is working on the development of a new Migrant Integration Strategy and officials in my Department will continue to engage with all relevant stakeholders in relation to its development and implementation.

Regional Education and Language Teams, or REALT, were established in March 2022 to support the needs of Ukrainian children arriving in Ireland. These teams are hosted by the 16 regional Education and Training Boards (ETBs) and are staffed by existing regionally based education-support personnel, working closely together to ensure good co-ordination and alignment of supports.

The primary role of REALT is to assist children in finding school places and to support schools to meet the needs of these children as they arise, to advise and support the department in developing new capacity where required, and to co-ordinate the provision of education services to children and families across their defined area. These teams ensure that clear, accessible information flows are in place between schools, local education support services and national support structures.

The remit of the REALTs was extended in November 2022 to include supporting children and young people under the Irish Refugee Protection Programme and those accommodated by the International Protection Accommodation Service to find school places. The TESS team continue to operate as normal with new arrivals working closely with the 16 REALT co-ordinators and requesting supports from them when needed. The statutory role of Tusla to ensure that all children aged 6 to 16 are in receipt of an education is not affected.

The regional teams are hosted and administratively supported within the ETBs and lead a network of other key agencies, including Tusla Education Support Service (TESS), National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS), National Council for Special Education (NCSE) and management body local nominees working together with local schools.

The Special Education Teaching allocation provides a single unified allocation for special educational support teaching needs to each school, based on each school’s educational profile and also encompasses the English as an Additional Language (EAL) allocation that schools were allocated in previous years. All schools are advised in the first instance to review whether the needs of newly enrolled pupils can be met from within existing allocations.

My Department has adapted to the dynamic landscape of student enrolment. This has been particularly effective in the context of the pace and volume of newly arrived students fleeing the war in Ukraine and the ongoing increase in students, who require EAL supports to fully access the curriculum.

My Department has prioritised enhancing English as an Additional Language (EAL) support, recognising the critical role of language proficiency in successful integration and academic achievement.

These supports to schools, based on application process, are provided for new-entrant pupils (i.e., pupils arrived in the country in the last 2 years with an EAL requirement). Similar to previous years, supports may also be provided for schools with a high concentration of pupils that are not classified as new-entrant pupils but who have an EAL need i.e., those pupils with less than 3 years EAL support and register less than B1 in an English proficiency test.

My Department's policies enable flexible resource allocation to ensure that the resources follow children in the event of them changing schools. Schools may also apply for further language support by an application process during the school year, should their circumstances change.

In 2022, additional temporary special education supports were put in place to support schools with large Ukrainian enrolments. Resources are also provided to support schools that have enrolled a significant number of children seeking international protection.

The National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) has developed a range of supports and resources for refugee and migrant children, including well-being resources for students. These include advice on supporting children with special education needs and supporting children at a time of war.

My Department provides funding to all recognised schools in the Free Education Scheme by way of per capita grants. These grants are based on recognised enrolments in September of the relevant school year.

The two main grants are the Capitation grant to cater for day to day running costs including heating, lighting etc. and the Ancillary grant to cater for the cost of employing ancillary services staff. These grants may be regarded as a common grant from which the Board of Management can allocate according to its own priorities.