Mr. Kieran Christie:

I referenced in my opening statement that pupil-teacher ratios, as the Deputy correctly pointed out, are among the highest in the OECD. That presents an additional problem in dealing with this, and certainly the space issue is going to vary from school to school in terms of dealing with the return . The health advice contains a section which argues for the maximisation of space within schools to ensure that as many people as can possibly and safely return on any given day can be accommodated. We have no problem with that and we support it. However, there are many schools with narrow corridors, smaller older buildings, smaller classrooms and so on where that is not going to be a particularly helpful suggestion.

In terms of the policing of schools and how they are dealing with it, there is, as the Deputy will be aware, a role for the HSA under the national return to work protocol. Certainly, we will be absolutely vigilant in ensuring that role is carried out with regard to schools. Obviously, students do not return to work, so there is an additional veneer there. There is no question about the nature of schools and the extent to which there is interest in them. We do not foresee a widespread problem, and I hope I am right in saying this, with a failure to adhere to what is required because of the extent to which schools are watched both internally and publicly.

We hope that will not be a particularly major issue.

The key objective we have is to get back to operating safely. The lead worker in the protocol will be very active in ensuring that from his or her perspective, everything is done properly. A spin-off from that will be that the position will be well monitored within schools. Challenges abound in that respect.