Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses very much for coming in. I have a number of questions. Hot water is an issue that was raised. Indeed, I know that the national school I went to applied to get hot water and was not able to because it was not determined to be an emergency. The Department rightly decided that. This is not a criticism of the Department. It must do what it can with the resources available. However, emergencies are something that happen, for instance, if a tree falls on a roof or if a window breaks. That is how it defines emergencies. There are summer works programmes but none was scheduled to happen this summer. The hot water issue falls in between, and until now there has not been an administrative scheme that covers things like hot water or even adaptations to schools which are required because of the new circumstances we appear to find ourselves in. I sometimes wonder how we can find ourselves being unique in Europe whereby schools have gone back all over Europe and we have not. Covid-19 poses the same threats to the physiognomy of Irish people as it does to Austrians, Danes, Swedes or those in the United Kingdom, for that matter. However, that is a different issue. Do the witnesses think there is a need for a summer works-type programme to introduce hot water for handwashing and other adaptations that are required for schools in this instance?