Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 19 May 2021

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health

Ventilation and Covid-19: Discussion

Mr. Simon Jones:

I will be very quick. There were two questions as people reached for an understanding of how we implement this. The reality is this is very complex to do. We have to get down to basics. Good public information and awareness about the benefits of ventilation will go a very long way in getting people to be aware of their surroundings. I look on the screen in front of me and see that every single person is in a different environment right now. We can learn a lot from the world of retrofitting. We need bespoke solutions for each individual room and building. That is the hard reality. There is no easy road with regard to ventilation in existing buildings. One needs professionals, people who are capable of assessing risk and people who understand health and safety at work. People need to go into spaces, look at them and understand how to get the best out of those buildings. It goes back to the idea of perfection being the enemy of the good. We can look for the perfect solution for every building but the reality is that we have to start somewhere. The best place to start is with awareness. We have to get people to understand and be cognisant of the air they breathe. We can start to develop advice and tools over time to enable people to get the best out of what they have and, eventually, develop strategies to improve those buildings over time. That is the point I wanted to make.