Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their work and the work of their members. Education has suffered from what I consider to be poor leadership at Government level in the months of this crisis. However, trade union members in schools have done an amazing job in maintaining a thread of calm, first by finishing the previous school year and then through the leaving certificate and into the period of reopening schools. That cannot be stated often enough.

The first point I would like to raise is for the representatives of the ASTI. It concerns the statistic that 25% of schools, according to principals, do not have hot water in their toilet facilities. This is an astounding statistic given that the earliest public health advice we received, which has been a common and strong thread until now, is that we need to wash our hands regularly with warm water. That was the first advice we were all given. What are the reasons behind this statistic? Why are a quarter of our schools without hot water? What representations have been made to the Minister and her predecessor to try to rectify that deficiency in advance of this school year commencing?