Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Covid has made us all rethink the way we do business. It has resulted in major reliance on video calls and remote working, but there are workplaces for which other measures are needed to work safely. Ventilation and clean air is a key factor in ensuring the ability to work safely in this time of Covid. Our schools are an example of this. Many schools are too old to allow for significant ventilation or for various reasons opening windows may not be a ready option. Since the onset of this pandemic last year, we have been asking the Minister for Education to address the need for ventilation and clean air in our schools. Instead of taking the steps needed to adequately address this, children were sent back into school with no mitigation measures, no filtration in classrooms and contact tracing has since ended. Cases of Covid have now increased significantly in schools and since contact tracing was stopped the level of infection has more then trebled among primary school age children. Overnight, schools have gone from being so safe that contact tracing was not needed to needing children to wear masks to keep safe.

When we appealed for ventilation measures for schools, the response from the Government was largely to open windows and not to invest in HEPA filtration. HEPA filters actively remove contaminants from the air, while the CO2 monitors that the Minister has given us reassurances about only monitor the quality of air. They do not improve it. Now we hear of instances of kids sitting in freezing cold classrooms where they can neither stay comfortable nor concentrate effectively on their lessons. There is no need for this. It is just the result of a penny-pinching measure that lets down our children and teachers. It dismisses the recommendation of the Government's expert group on ventilation, which in March stated that these devices "may be useful in reducing airborne transmission in spaces with insufficient ventilation." The Minister for Health must act now. If he wants to keep our schools functioning, the time for dithering and indecision has passed.

The issue is not confined to schools alone, however. This Bill seeks to establish enforceable standards for ventilation in all workplaces to help the fight against Covid-19.

Meat factories were at the forefront of concerns in the early days of the Covid outbreak. We must learn from that. Any measure that empowers employees with concerns to request an inspection of their workplace by the HSE to check the air quality is welcome.

If the Government wishes to ensure schools are as safe as possible, its focus should be on bringing back fully public health's tracing teams and providing filtration devices for the classrooms that need them. The well-being of children must be invested in immediately.

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