Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In the first instance, I acknowledge that an enormous body of work has been undertaken by all of society to ensure that our schools, in the midst of level 5 and a lockdown which pertains to virtually all of society at this point, reopened on a cautious and phased basis. An enormous debt of gratitude is owed to all of society for supporting and facilitating that by doing what we all need to do, namely, keep our distance, wear a mask, reduce our social contacts and so on. There continues to be a responsibility on all of us to do that and to be conscious, as parents and guardians, that we are not congregating outside schools. The deputy chief medical officer has stated there should not be any play dates and we should be vigilant. It is very important that our schools remain open and that the phased reopening of schools continues. To be fair to parents, guardians, families and wider society, I acknowledge the enormous work they have done up to this point. I ask people to continue to do that work so that, as we approach the Easter break and look to the resumption of all our schools after that, we hold steady and do what needs to be done to ensure we will have a reopening after Easter. I say that in full cognisance of the huge debt of gratitude we owe to everyone for the work that has been done thus far.