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

Go raibh maith agat to all of our guests for being here today. I thank them for their work and that of the members of their unions in the past couple of weeks because I know the effort has been phenomenal and major sacrifices have been made for the benefit of the children of this country.

I think I speak for many people when I say that we are grateful. Perhaps it is time for those media commentators who tried to castigate school staff to reflect on their some of their comments now that the reopening of schools has been achieved. Now that schools are open, it will be as much of a challenge to keep them that way.

A number of points have been identified through our guests' various statements. Rapid priority testing is essential, as are ensuring adequate cover for the substitution of staff and tackling oversized classes. In the context of cover, we must ensure that parents are not financially punished for keeping their children out of school. That is essential to making sure that the reopening of schools is sustainable.

I will direct my first question to the INTO. It relates to the entire process concerning Medmark and high-risk members of staff. I will raise the issue of high-risk students with the Minister later. I understand that there has been some movement with the process relating to staff and that there is an appeals process. My concern is whether the process is adequately independent and whether there will be a fresh look at existing evidence and, perhaps, a reinterpretation of it rather than simply requesting new evidence. There is significant concern in that regard. "High-risk" is a very broad term for a category that seems to take in everything from mild asthma to people with leukaemia and those at risk of liver failure. Many individuals are concerned, and rightly so. How confident can we be that whatever appeals mechanism exists will be adequately independent and will ensure that members of staff are safe?