Nearly a quarter of Ukrainian refugees are children who'll spend Christmas in Laois because of Russia's war

The number of Ukrainian people who have fled the Russian invasion of their homeland is set to reach nearly 800 by years end according to new official figures which also show that nearly a quarter are children who will be spending Christmas away from their homeland.

The latest official figures published on December 19 show that there were 798 war refugees in Laois to the week ending Sunday, December 11 with the number of people in Laois agreeing to host people who have fled war on the increase.

This is is up by just 6.3% on the 742 refugees who had arrived in Laois up to the end of that last official recording persons here on Sunday, November 6. It is also a higher rate of increase in arrivals that came between September 22 and November 6.

The stats are published by the Central Statistics Office which has been publishing statistics on arrivals from Ukraine into Ireland since May.

The extra latest 47 arrivals in Laois is significantly less than the 125 more people housed Laois between August and September.

Of total of people now living hear, 323 are residing in the Portlaoise Municipal District. This takes in Abbeyleix and Ballinakill and stretches to the Kilkenny border.

The Portarlington - Graiguecullen Municipal District is home to 298 refugees. The district stretches from the Offaly border, along Kildare to Carlow and Kilkenny. 

A further 168 people have found a safe haven in the Borris-in-Ossory Mountmellick Municipal District which stretches from the Offaly border to the boundaries with Tipperary and Kilkenny.

Nearly a quarter, or 183, of those who have arrived are children. There are 108 refugees are in primary school and 75 in secondary school. This is down slightly on the previous recording period.

The figures also show that there are 114 Laois hosts in receipt of Accommodation Recognition Payment for housing some of the refugees in their homes. This is up 97 since November.

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Nationally, The CSO says that as of the week ending 11 December 2022 there have been 67,448 Personal Public Service Numbers (PPSNs) issued to individuals from Ukraine under the Temporary Protection Directive.

Women and men, aged 20 and over, account for 46% and 20% respectively of arrivals to date, while children and young adults aged 0-19 (both male and female) make up for 34% of arrivals. Of all arrivals to date aged 18 and over, 62% of males and 47% of females were married or cohabiting.

There were 13,619 arrivals enrolled in further education and training courses on 01 December 2022, of which 11,648 enrolled in further education English language courses.

As of 11 December 2022, 69% (or 16,785 persons) of the arrivals that attended employment support events arranged by Intreo Public Employment Services, noted that English language proficiency was a challenge in securing employment.

Of the 24,164 arrivals who attended an Intreo event, 14,674 had recorded previous occupations, with Professionals being the largest group at 32%. Of the 19,103 persons where the highest level of education was recorded, 65% had achieved an NFQ level equivalent to 7 or higher.

Killarney had the highest number of associated arrivals from Ukraine at 2,019 while the Locale Electoral Area with the highest rate was Ennistimon in Co Clare.