Mr. Damian White:

From the primary end, the Deputy is right that this episode has shown up some of the major fault lines that exist. Nobody could have expected that Covid would hit in the way that it did. When we closed on 12 March we expected it would be a two-week closure and that everything would return to normal but far from normal it has been. One is looking at how classrooms and schools will look in September and what needs to happen. Speakers have already outlined the amount of investment that needs to happen. There has to be a serious re-examination of what is needed and how much is needed. We call for a substantial investment. As Mr. Clerkin and Mr. Mongey outlined, there are resources that are basic to this particular issue and also resources that are basic to education going forward.

Looking at classrooms, at primary level, we do not know whether it will be 2 m. A distance of 1 m has been suggested for all students above second class. That is a huge issue because many classrooms, and certainly in small schools and country schools, are less than 50 sq. m so when one does the maths one soon realises that it will be very difficult to fit in people. Every school is working as resourcefully as humanly possible and people are putting a lot of thought into this matter. Through our own organisation we are trying to support them in every way that we can.

It is our sincere hope that we get back to school in September. I was in a school the other day where all of the furniture had been moved out to make every space available. Where isolation units are needed, the reality in some schools is that corridors are not 1 m wide and, therefore, a corner of a corridor or toilet area may be an isolation unit, or something that is probably not appropriate except in extreme emergencies. There are many issues. Investment is seriously needed but investment in people would be a start. Our schools would be well supported or certainly a lot better supported if we knew that we had extra personnel, that teaching principals had the flexibility that they need, and that they would not have teaching duties for the month of September, if possible.