Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I think all of us across the Chamber can agree that a monumental effort by all staff - teachers, SNAs and others throughout the school community - has gone into keeping schools open throughout the pandemic. I note that today, UNICEF has called for teachers, and I imagine also SNAs, to be prioritised in the roll-out of the vaccine.

In terms of the provisional order in which people will be vaccinated that has just been released, key workers in essential jobs who cannot avoid a high risk of exposure are No. 10 and people working in education are No. 11. How do we differentiate between essential workers and teachers? If possible, could we consider teachers and SNAs as front-line staff in terms of prioritisation for vaccination so that we can continue to keep schools open?

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