Minister for Education Norma Foley has said every resource will be made available to support children from Ukraine, so they can continue their education.
The Department of Education was fortunate to have data identifying the areas where there was capacity in the education system, which would be shared with the Department of Children so families could be welcomed there, the Minister told Newstalk Breakfast.
A number of children from Ukraine have already started in Irish schools this week, Ms Foley said, adding she was very conscious that “much more needs to be done.”.
Psychological assistance would also be provided, she said, and there was a helpline for school principals where necessary modular accommodation would be provided.
“We will cope one way or the other, but it won’t be easy.”
The Minister added: “It behoves us all to do what we need to do in the education sector.”
Healthcare
Meanwhile, the chief clinical officer of the HSE, Dr Colm Henry has said the health service is focused on providing access to medical services for refugees arriving from the war-torn country.
When asked about the pressures the health service was already facing, Dr Henry told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland that Ireland had a long tradition of providing assistance and the hand of friendship “even when we have troubles of our own”.
The troubles being faced by the people of Ukraine “put our own in perspective,” he added.
Dr Henry also acknowledged that the recent rise in Covid figures was a cause for concern as they were having a “very disruptive effect” on the flow of patients through hospitals. The absence of staff due to the virus was also having an impact on acute hospitals and residential care settings.
There were record high numbers attending Emergency Departments (EDs), he said, many of them older people. The HSE was developing models of care that would not have to rely on acute hospitals, he added.
Since Covid restrictions have been lifted and there were “more opportunities” for the virus to spread in congregated settings, the HSE had shifted its focus to individual advice (to self-isolate) and where the virus had the greatest capacity to harm.
While the rise in Covid hospital figures was troubling, half of those patients had been hospitalised with other conditions and had subsequently tested positive for the virus, he explained. The number of patients in intensive care specifically for Covid was also falling, he said.
