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

I am anxious to ask my other question. The Minister needs to lean on the HSE to provide more resources. One area of confusion is that there seems to be a discrepancy between the advice the HSE is providing and the advice contained in the Covid-19 response plan provided by the Department of Education as to when a child should self-isolate and the symptoms involved. The Department document outlines a number of common symptoms and other uncommon symptoms. These include runny noses and stuffy noses. Obviously, these are very common among children. The document states that if people have any symptoms of Covid-19, they should self-isolate. The HSE advice, under a heading on when it is okay to send a child to school or childcare, states if children have been told by the HSE they are a close contact, it is usually okay to send them to school or childcare if they only have nasal symptoms such as runny nose or a sneeze. To be honest, we have had it ourselves and we kept the child at home. Families will face tens of thousands of situations with runny noses. Perhaps not tens of thousands, but certainly thousands. The Department of Education is saying not to send the children in and the HSE is saying that it is okay to do so. Will the Minister clarify the position? Some of the confusion is because it is not clear which symptoms require self-isolation and which do not. It is a problem coming from the HSE and the Department, whichever one is on the right side.