Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Professor Nolan and Dr. Glynn for their efforts to date in fighting this pandemic, which have been extraordinary. I know the people of this country are grateful as well. I have six minutes and that is to include answers so, as much as I appreciate public health and epidemiology are complex and do not lend themselves to brief answers, I would appreciate it if the witnesses could be as brief as possible.

I will be focussing on schools and education, which is one of the biggest issues the public is concerned about at the moment. We have an underfunded and overcrowded education system. An example of that is the grotesque sight of an isolation room in a national school in Athlone in a garden shed. I do not put the blame on the school but on Department of Education and Skills underfunding. I know the witnesses cannot comment on that. Because of overcrowded school estates, social distancing is simply not possible in some schools due to a lack of space. That is the reality at this time. The implied message from the Department seems to be to carry on regardless. That is what I am picking up. If a school cannot achieve social distancing, is it safe for it to reopen? I ask Dr. Glynn to answer that question.