More than one-third of Ukrainians arriving in Ireland have attended employment support events but most believe a lack of English language proficiency is an impediment to finding work, a study has found.
Some 62,425 Personal Public Service (PPS) numbers have been issued to people arriving from Ukraine under the Temporary Protection Directive as of November 6th.
Since April, Intreo Public Employment Services has been arranging employment support events for arrivals, with 22,441 attending so far.
The Central Statistics Office (CSO), which compiles data on arrivals, said of those about two-thirds (14,555) had registered previous occupations, with “professionals” forming the largest group.
Men and women aged 20 and over account for 46 per cent and 20 per cent respectively of arrivals.
Children and teenagers up to the age of 19 account for just over one-third of all those who have sought refuge in Ireland.
At the beginning of the month 8,618 Ukrainians were enrolled in further education and training courses, of which 7,417 were in English language courses.
On a geographical basis, Killarney, Co Kerry, had the highest number of associated arrivals from Ukraine at 1,899.
The tourist town has felt the strain of accommodating refugees. A recent meeting of the Killarney municipal district council heard the goodwill that previously existed toward refugees had dissipated because of the numbers arriving and the associated pressures on health, education and other services.
That meeting, in early November, heard the town had a population of 10,360 and was now accommodating 3,200 refugees and asylum seekers.
The Co Kerry towns of Kenmare and Tralee recorded 1,532 and 1,427 arrivals respectively. There were 1,394 recorded in Clondalkin, Dublin.
The rate per 100 of population ranges across all local electoral areas in the country range from 0.08 per cent to 8.88 per cent. The area with the highest rate was Ennistymon, Co Clare.
The number of hosts in receipt of the Accommodation Recognition Payment stood at 3,224.
Almost 8,000 children have enrolled in primary schools and about 4,600 in secondary.
