Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. She will understand that there has been some frustration. A concern throughout this crisis so far has been that, in the area of education, there is a mix of very rigid measures and a lot being left to fall on the shoulders of individual boards of governance in schools. Individual boards of governance are left to figure out how they are going to implement and respond to certain things; yet, at the same time, they are also being denied flexibility. There is an early example that I have raised a few times and hope has been addressed. A family might not want a child going to school if he or she will be coming back to a house with a sibling with extremely compromised immunity. Every child lives with a family and goes back to a family. Schools were willing to offer remote access but they were being told by the Department that they had to mark children as being as láthair if they were not physically present. That is regrettable and an example of a lack of flexibility. At the same time, schools felt a heavy burden was placed on them to figure out how they were going to deal with circumstances this September. I realise there was some support given to schools but it was not enough. We missed an opportunity during the summer to have our schools in much better shape for September.

The ventilation issue was very much at play. There was reluctance in respect of masks for three or four months as it was questioned whether they were a good idea. We found out they were. With regard to antigen tests, there has been reluctance to rely on them. None of these things is the silver bullet; there is no silver bullet. What we have are a number of tools that will help us to address and contain this, and each of them needs to be used. It is welcome that antigen tests are now playing a role, but it was flagged very early on that antigen testing could have been a useful tool. It would have been useful had there been an antigen-testing framework going into September. On ventilation, regardless of whether HEPA filters will work for, or help, everybody, we should be using them. A colleague mentioned throwing the kitchen sink at the problem. If the filters help, even if only in some classrooms or in the staffroom, they should be considered.Everything that minimises the spread is significant. They have had a major impact where they have been used, such as in hospitals. Rather than schools having to fight to make the case for HEPA filters, they should be made available to them. Of course, school buildings that are very old need to be prioritised, although if we had started in the summer, they could be in every school. I urge that the period of the Christmas break be used to get HEPA filters into as many classrooms and staff rooms as possible.

I welcome the fact the motion on workplace ventilation was passed by the Dáil last night. That is really important. There has been so much narrative about personal responsibility but the fact is workers and students are required to be in certain places. They do not have the opportunity to stay away from them. If there is a worry about HEPA filters giving false confidence, the fact is people have to be in those rooms in any event, and it might alleviate the fear many children are feeling.

The same is true of masks. I have talked to parents who have told me many children are reassured by the idea of masks in their classroom. Imagine what it is to be a child watching this pandemic unfold for the past two years and knowing you are not old enough to get a vaccine. Seeing the adults and the system around you making active efforts gives you psychological assurance and helps minimise the trauma caused by this process. I commend Orla Hegarty in particular, of University College of Dublin, UCD, school of architecture, who has led the way on ventilation and made strong points on that. I urge the Minister's Department to engage with her because she has been proven right again and again on this issue.

On university exams, I have been contacted by students from National University of Ireland Galway, Trinity College Dublin and UCD. It is vital they be given the option of remote exams. We know it is possible because we did it last year. Insisting on in-person exams in crowded exam halls is unnecessary and we should not take any unnecessary risks.

Finally, I urge the Minister, who sits at Cabinet, to support the TRIPS waiver in order that we can end this pandemic for everybody throughout the world. If it is difficult for us, it is much more difficult for those in the global south.