Mr. Seán Ó Foghlú:

I thank the Deputy. We were immediately conscious on the day we were closing schools, and we had to close them at very short notice on the advice of the health authorities, that it would be more difficult to reopen them and that there would be more challenges. We did not know what the virus was going to be like at that initial time. We were hopeful it would pass more speedily than it has, although it has been brought under control very well in society in that time. Our immediate work was to support schools in engaging with their students and advancing learning in what turned out to be the three-week period before the Easter schools' break. We also did immediate thinking on the nature of the assessments for State examinations that had been planned for those three weeks. As we worked through, the Minister made the call over the Easter period that schools were effectively closed until further notice.

At that stage, while continuing to put a big focus on supporting learning for the remaining number of weeks, a shorter period in second level, and another focus on the year-end certification, particularly for junior and leaving certificate years, we also began work, reflection and engagement on how schools would reopen. We initially engaged with health advice on the examination system, and that was very important. We had a focus initially on bringing some teachers back for sixth year classes in July, but when it became clear that this was not possible, we focused on planning for the longer-run return, which has been September. In addition, more recently, when the health advice changed such that it would be possible to bring back some schooling in the summer, we focused on the summer provision as well.