Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 2 September 2020

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response

Covid-19: Review of the Reopening of Schools (Resumed)

Photo of Gary GannonGary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

International public health advice regarding CLL, which the mother suffers from, is to remain cocooned. That is not possible if they are sending two teenage children to individual schools. The one-size-fits-all model does not suit this family and they are being left behind. They have written to the Minister and an official from the Department wrote back, telling them to get in contact with the board of management of the school. The board of management does not have the expertise, nor have the members received guidelines from the Department telling them how they can cater for that family's needs. We need to protect them. The Department needs to intervene here. It is not satisfactory. I am happy to arrange for the Minister to have a meeting with the family. They will meet her any time and we can create guidelines to alleviate their genuine worry that they will catch Covid-19 and that will have devastating consequences for their family. This is beyond anxiousness and it needs to be addressed.

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