Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am slightly lost for words, which the Ceann Comhairle knows is not my style. I have heard it all and everybody has heard it. I do not believe for a minute that either the Minister or Minister of State has turned a deaf ear or do not feel what is being said or have not done their best. Equally, I do not believe our schoolteachers or special needs assistants have done so. I have never dealt with the teachers' unions but I do not believe they are there for any reason other than to come to a proper solution that sees our most vulnerable children back where they should be.

There is a huge burden on everybody here because there is not a simple solution. I have had representations from all sides. I have not heard one teacher who does not want to go back to work. I have not heard one special needs assistant who does not want to go back to work. Certainly they have issues and they range from childcare to safety concerns to vulnerable family members about whom they are concerned. In the same way, I have heard parents who just cannot cope without having some form of respite, even in the frame of education, for their children. I have heard other parents who are worried sick that if the service is open they would be bad parents to send the children back with the fear of Covid.

The reality of the situation is that it is very difficult and the one common denominator is that everybody is scared, including me. I am scared that if the wrong decision is made it will have the knock-on effect of an outbreak among the most vulnerable. I share the same concern as the teachers and the special needs assistants. I have to put my faith in all concerned who are trying to put this together, that they will make the decision for the right reasons and not so it will be politicised as something the Government got right or that the INTO would use it for its own expedience as the main teachers' union. I am certainly not here to politicise it.

I am here to offer my support. If there is anything I can do I will do it. At present, all I can do is keep parents and special needs assistants informed as to how things are going. I have passed all of the communications I have had to the Department and the Minister. I have to say at this point that I have never had anything but proper communication from the Department of Education. These have been with regard to other matters. On this I do not expect a response to every email because there have been hundreds but I expect that every email, which has voiced a different level of concern, has been taken on board. We can hear it here today.

Every Deputy understands what the issues are. I concur mainly with those who say that perhaps the solution is to go into a tunnel, with all sides staying away from the media. This is not about who wins. This is about getting it right. There may be solutions whereby we can do antigen testing. There is affordable antigen testing. That may be one solution. There may be a solution whereby we need to take the special needs assistants and teachers up the list for the vaccine.

It is all very difficult.

It is even more difficult when, every day, we have our daily reports from NPHET and, as general members of the population not in the sphere of teachers, SNAs or special needs children, all we hear is to stay home and that this is highly contagious. Then, for this cohort of people, we are all to accept readily that our schools are safe. I accept it when the Minister says that the medical advice is that the schools, while not risk-free, are safer. What is wrong here is that there is an element of confusion for people. How, on the one hand, can we be told to stay home and that this is highly contagious and, on the other, it is acceptable to bring our most vulnerable cohort of people into one setting? This is not something I believe is the fault of a 40% reduction in PPE. I have had no representations on that matter. Where anybody has come to me for PPE, it has been resolved and by no means has it been about money. However, I believe there are certain settings that are not suitable for social distancing. The very nature of what is entertained here is absolute physical contact between those with special needs and those providing the care and the services.

I will not drag on. Although I have five minutes left and I had prepared a question on the leaving certificate, there will be another day. However, I will say that if my services are required as a politician, I am there to offer any help I can. All that I can do for my constituents at this time is support them when they call me, answer their messages and emails and wait for the process to conclude successfully.

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