Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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587. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the guidelines will be clarified regarding the wearing of face masks in secondary schools for students with health issues such as asthma (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22181/20]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The Department received advice from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) on the use of face coverings in educational settings on the 6th August 2020. The advice from the HPSC to the Department has recommended that face coverings should be worn by teachers, staff and students attending post primary schools when a physical distance of 2 meters from other staff or students cannot be maintained.

The advice also provides that cloth face coverings should not be worn by any of the following groups:

- any person with difficulty breathing

- any person who is unconscious or incapacitated

- any person who is unable to remove the face-covering without assistance

- any person who has special needs and who may feel upset or very uncomfortable wearing the face covering, for example persons with intellectual or developmental disabilities, mental health conditions, sensory concerns or tactile sensitivity.

A medical certificate should be provided to the school where an exemptions is sought on the above grounds. Students in these categories can continue to attend school as normal while observing arrangements for hand hygienic, physical distancing etc.

Advice for schools on the use of face coverings is available in the COVID-19 Response Plans for schools published on the www.gov.ie/backtoschool.