Almost 48,000 Ukrainian refugees have arrived in Ireland since outbreak of war - CSO

Muireann Duffy

As of the week ending August 7th, 47,962 Personal Public Service Numbers (PPSNs) have been issued to people arriving to the State from war-torn Ukraine.

The latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the fifth release of data relating to Ukrainian refugees in Ireland, show women aged 20 and older account for the majority of arrivals (47 per cent), while those aged 0-19 (both boys and girls) represent a further 36 per cent.

In the three weeks since the last count, just under 3,300 people have arrived in the Republic from Ukraine.

Around 18,079 (38 per cent) of people were categorised at 'one parent with children', with the CSO noting that these circumstances may have arisen by the other parent choosing to remain in Ukraine.

The data added that as of August 7th, of those who attended employment support events arranged by Intreo Public Employment Services, 67 per cent said their English proficiency was a challenge for them in securing employment.

Of the 15,627 people who attended the employment event, 33 per cent said they were previously employed as 'professionals'. Of the 11,999 whose highest level of qualification was recorded, 68 per cent held an NFQ level equivalent to 7 or higher.

The CSO also used data relating to the Post Offices at which Ukrainian arrivals were accessing support from the Department of Social Protection as a "tentative proxy" to estimate their area of residence based on Local Electoral Areas (LEAs).

Based on these figures, the CSO found Ennistymon LEA in Co Clare has the highest share of arrivals from Ukraine (based on PPSN allocation as of August 7th) with 1,289, followed by Killarney, Co Kerry with 1,194.

Neighbouring LEA Kenmare had the third-highest number of arrivals with 1,045, followed by Donegal LEA with 945.