Mr. John Boyle:

In our case, we received an additional document for our schools, namely, a Covid-19 draft response plan. We have the interim guidance or recommendations from the public health experts but we also have an additional plan that came about because of very intensive work carried out by management, the principals' group and us, the INTO. If that plan is to come to fruition for September, the pace of engagement will have to increase. Now that we have the interim health guidance, it is obvious that primary will be treated somewhat differently from post-primary. It is obvious that for classes up to second class, the public health experts believe that social distancing will not be as achievable. We have a particular issue with the older classes, from third to sixth class, when it comes to the large, or super-size as I call them, classes. No matter what way the maths is done, it will be very difficult to fit 35 or 36 children into an 80 sq. m room, not to mention some of the smaller, older classrooms.

The advice may change over the summer, and international comparisons are being carried out with primary schools that have opened in countries where the curve was flattened earlier than in our case. It will be kept under review. It is our view that as we enter August, we will work tirelessly, even during our office closure - and I will not be taking any holidays - to ensure we can get this over the line. The key point from the very beginning from our perspective has been that we are guided by public health advice from Irish experts. We have had great trust in them as a country.

When it comes to the 1 million people the Deputy refers to, almost 600,000 of whom are returning to primary school, the key point for them is that if the medical experts determine that the measures and protections are in place, we will all be back, but I have serious reservations about what will happen after we go back. The committee might come to this issue later. It is fine to get the schools reopened but the question is whether we can keep them open in circumstances where teachers are absent, and mandated as such because they have symptoms, and where the Department will not fund substitute teachers to cover their absence. That would ruin the theory behind pods and bubbles. We will not be able to have classes split willy-nilly throughout schools.