Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The public health team had not recommended that the school should close. There must be a system. We have all deferred to public health advice. There is and should be local engagement between principals and public health personnel, and that improved in particular after the Hallowe'en break when the Minister with the HSE implemented a new system to bring about closer collaboration between principals and public health teams.

We must ultimately defer to public health guidelines. We will continue to engage as cases like this emerge and re-evaluate how advice is given. We cannot have a position where every school will make its own decision. Nationally, and from a societal perspective, we want our schools open and children back in school safely. We will evaluate what has happened here and if protocols must be amended or refined, that is fine. The public health personnel had not recommended that the school should close.

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