Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I commend the Minister, the Minister of State and school staff on the reopening of schools. It has been great to hear young children back at school. My own view, as the Minister and Minister of State will be aware, is that all schoolchildren should be back at school. I share the view expressed in the editorial of The British Medical Journal, published last week, which says that school closures are not evidence-based and they harm children. We need to reflect on what the Ombudsman for Children, Dr. Niall Muldoon, said a number of weeks ago when he said we may look back on this period and say it was a time when adults let down children.

I commend the Minister, Deputy Foley, on her statement regarding the reduced figures yesterday but I would urge her and the Minister of State to recognise that if we have an expedited improvement in the figures we should not remain stuck on the date of 12 April as being the date on which the remainder of schoolchildren return to school because 12 April is almost six weeks away. There are a number of children in secondary schools who want to get back to school. Parents are contacting me and they are very concerned about their children. They see them being lethargic and listless around the house and not going out, engaging or socialising. They are missing important developmental stages. I am aware that we have to be conscious of the public health concerns and public health advice but we must be sure we do not heap a further public health crisis upon our young people as a result of being too cautious when it comes to trying to ensure the disease is suppressed.

Again, I commend the Minister and Minister of State on the work they are doing. It would be great if we could get all children back to school prior to 12 April.

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