Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Professor Butler and Dr. Holohan and their committees for all of the work they have done over the past 18 months. It has been a difficult time for everyone.

A letter was sent to the Minister on 25 August setting out the likelihood of the number of people contracting the virus over the next number of months. It set out peaks. I wonder about the increase in numbers. Over the past week or so all universities have returned. Approximately 220,000 students are moving from home or work back into third level. In respect of the peak, do we expect this will be a contributory factor? At what stage do we think this will start to play out? How do we work towards trying to reduce the number of people contracting the virus over the next three to four weeks? A large number of people are moving within a very short timescale.