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

I mean this in the best of good faith. I do not detect anything of substance in Deputy McDonald's contribution this morning on this matter. She has been going on about a plan B for a long time, with no concrete fleshing out of what that is. Schools reopened in September through partnership involving the parents, the unions, the Department and the Minister, and with a lot of resources provided by the Government. It was a successful reopening from September to Christmas. Public health played a very significant role in that, in particular Dr. Kevin Kelleher and Dr. Abigail Collins from the HSE, who were available every week to consult with leadership teams in education in respect of public health guidance and responses. The whole journey up to now has been a shared one between the partners in education and that engagement will continue.

On 15 January the INTO general secretary made the point that a significant number of Fórsa and INTO members would be going back into special classes and into mainstream education. He said he believed that every single school in Ireland would be opening its doors late next week-----

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