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

About six weeks ago I submitted a document to the Minister for Education outlining the measures we believe are necessary to ensure that schools stay open in a safe and sustainable way, which we all agree is a priority. Unfortunately serious issues with the tracing regime have arisen. The tracing system was one of the priorities we identified. It has been described by one union leader as "shambolic". Many teachers and parents have raised it with me themselves. They are concerned that a different and lesser standard is being applied to tracing in schools. In the last day or two some school staff members have received emails from their schools advising them not to follow the advice on contacts contained in the text they received. The Minister for Education said on "RTÉ News at One" two days ago that there would be dedicated school tracing teams. That is a good idea, provided the proper resources are allocated and the criteria are adequate. However, we have not heard any more about this initiative since then. When will it be rolled out, what will it involve and what by what criteria will the school tracing teams operate?

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