Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I would like that aspect to be borne in mind by the Department because I am aware of several schools which are very close to that cut-off point. This could have an adverse effect on staffing in the year beginning in 2021. A related question, in some senses, concerns the responsibility of the boards of management. Members of boards serve voluntarily. I have served on the board of management of my local school and it is quite a responsibility to take on in a voluntary capacity. That is particularly the case this year in light of the seriousness of the decisions that need to be made. An example mentioned earlier was the case of parents who are high-risk.

I am also concerned that social distancing is simply not possible in some classrooms. There may be 34 children in a small, confined space and it is not possible to observe social distancing in that situation. The school principal in the case I have in mind has been advised that that classroom is forming the bubble. Members of that school's board of management are worried about liability and that, if there is an outbreak of Covid-19 in that classroom, somebody will come back to them and state that social distancing was not properly observed. Can the Minister give a certain amount of comfort to boards of management and principals that find themselves in this situation by stating that they will have the support of the Department if they take every step possible within the physical confines of their school buildings? If they take all reasonable steps, will the Department be fully behind them in making those decisions?