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

The Deputy has made a very true statement there, in that we cannot put all of the eggs in the vaccination basket alone. In fact, that is what the Chief Medical Officer, CMO, said to us last evening. He made that very point. Vaccination is a game changer, of course, but we need additional non-pharmaceutical protections to be in play as well to keep the virus at bay, particularly during the winter season because there could be a seasonality factor. In our climate, we tend to be indoors more during the winter period in terms of socialisation and so forth. I take that point.

On ventilation guidance, documents have been prepared and have issued. In respect of schools, for example, CO2 monitors have been sent to schools across the length and breadth of the country. That is the recommendation that they received in terms of how they should operate proper ventilation policy in primary and second level schools.

The development of sectoral guidance is not something new. It is something that has been ongoing since the commencement of the pandemic itself. It is something that can be achieved, working with the representative organisations in a given sector and Departments, including the relevant Department.

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