Ms Áine Lynch:

From the point of view of the primary sector, the Department has issued huge amounts of information, guidance and support to schools and parents in recent months in an ever shifting environment, which has been extremely challenging. The public health advice also changed over that time. The schools have opened in a very good position with the work put in by the Department and the schools. The area that needs specific attention is with regard to children not in school, whether for the reasons just outlined by Mr. O'Connor or because of events such as what happened yesterday when a class had to go home. What is the provision for these children and their education? This is the area which really needs some work and attention. As time goes on, we do not know how frequently this will happen or whether there will be localised lockdowns that affect schools. This is the area where we really need to do some work.