Mr. Kieran Christie:

I thank the Deputy for acknowledging the great work that was done remotely by many teachers throughout the country since the closures. It is pleasing that he has acknowledged that.

The Deputy originally asked two questions and I stitched into my statement that it is the objective of the ASTI to have full reopening as soon as possible, provided it is done safely. Answering the second part of the Deputy's question is tougher because it is not possible for me to predict when this will take place. There are too many variables of which we are not in control. The key variable is obviously the social distancing regime. We received medical advice yesterday. The position on what is possible might deteriorate or improve as the summer progresses, but we do not know. Social distancing is the key variable in ensuring that we get pupils back to school. Our view is that the advice that came out yesterday is such that many schools will not be fit to open on a full-time basis for all students. They might be open but they may be open on a restricted basis. That is a simple reality because of the sizes of the schools and the number of pupils who can safely be put into a classroom.

I agree with the Deputy that there is extreme urgency in respect of guidelines being issued to schools and planning. Perhaps there was time that might have been used better but we were waiting for the medical advice to come through. Without that advice, nobody was sure what was being planned. In that context, there is definitely a lot of work to be done in the coming weeks to give guidance to school leaders, teachers, parents and all the other stakeholders in schools.

With regard to the Deputy's question on costs, there is no doubt that the cleaning regime alone, in addition to several other aspects that arise from it, will impose an enormous burden of cost on the system. It will have to be borne centrally because schools do not have the money to fund the regime. Certainly, we share the Deputy's view that there should be no leaning on the already overburdened parents to fund that.