Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Government has always been guided by public health advice on what is safe in schools and that has been the case from the very beginning. The Chief Medical Officer, CMO, has made it clear in his advices to the Government that schools are places of low transmission, with very little evidence of transmission within schools, and that the majority of infections in children and adolescents occur outside the school setting. This is supported by public health doctors.

Schools have put significant infection prevention control measures in place to reduce the risk of coronavirus being transmitted to or within the school and funding of almost €650 million has been put in place by the Department of Education to fund Covid-19 related measures, including funding for personal protective equipment, PPE, sanitisation, additional cleaning and other such measures.

The HSE's Health Protection Surveillance Centre, HPSC, has issued specific advice about children attending school in the context of Covid-19. This advice covers both children with underlying medical conditions and children living with family members with underlying conditions. For all children, care should continue to be taken to reduce transmission through the infection control measures promoted by the HPSC. The HPSC advises that children with immediate family members, including parents, in both the high-risk and very high-risk categories can return to school and that it is important for the child's overall well-being. This is consistent with public health advice internationally on at-risk family members. The priority is that the household continues to follow all current advice on how to minimise the risk of coronavirus, and for all pupils and staff to continue to adhere to the school's infection control measures.

The Tusla Education Support Service, TESS, continues to engage with students and families identified by schools as needing additional support, and will remain in ongoing contact with school principals to identify students who may need support going forward. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Tusla has adopted a child welfare approach to all engagement with learners and families, being very conscious that many families had been impacted severely by Covid-19.

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