Special Educational Needs
Dail Éireann — 2022-05-12
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Gary Gannon (SD), Dublin Central

I am glad the Minister of State mentioned the students from Ukraine seeking refuge here. When the summer programme was recently published in The Irish Times , following the Minister of State's announcement, the headline in the newspaper stated "'Summer school' plan to include thousands of Ukrainian students". However, in reality it is only if places are left over after the other groups of students listed in the guidance document have been accommodated that migrant students, including those recently arrived in Ireland from Ukraine, would have an opportunity to take part in inclusion programmes or if schools themselves decide to prioritise this group. The Department has not prioritised these students, and to suggest otherwise is misleading. In fact, it has been taken down the pecking order from last year's programme to this year's programme. The Department has also failed to provide adequate time for school leaders to confirm they have enough teachers and SNAs available to run the school-based programme.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2022-05-12/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:50:26+00:00
Sitting date: 2022-05-12