Mr. John Boyle:

With regard to the inconsistencies people are concerned about in public health risk assessments, far be it from me to second-guess the medical experts. However, consistency will be the key to this. I realise they are under a great deal of pressure, but we were forced a number of weeks ago to suggest to our members that if a principal teacher receives a telephone call from a public health expert carrying out a risk assessment, they are not to answer immediately all the questions being asked but at least go down the corridor and talk to the key workers who have been associated with that case. There is tension between GDPR and public health advice. GDPR is very important, but people's lives are even more important. What has been happening in the primary schools is that the principal now takes time to talk to the key workers associated with the particular case in the school. Mass testing has been carried out in 935 educational facilities, and there has been inconsistency in the risk assessment carried out. Every place is different, but we must have confidence in the system and that whatever is being doing in school A is being done to the same degree in school B. At that point, parents, students and staff can have confidence that they are being well looked after.

I pointed out to NPHET personnel yesterday that it appears to be a little bizarre that an entire class, the most overcrowded classes in Europe with 35 children, would be sent home, but that the two workers working in the classroom would not. NPHET has its reasons for making those decisions, but it would give great confidence to the workers if they were also sent for a test in such a situation, and, hopefully, it would be negative.