Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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740. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills her views on correspondence from a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32733/20]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Where there is a suspected or confirmed case in a school, the local Public Health team will work with the school and undertake a Public Health Risk Assessment (PHRA). Once the PHRA is complete the Department of Public Health will then advise the school of the public health instructions which then should be followed by the school.

My Department’s advice to schools is to follow public health advice at all times. This practice ensures that no principal, or teachers is burdened with the responsibility of making a public health decision in relation to the closure or otherwise of schools.

The Department of Health in recent days has advised my Department that this issue has been afforded careful consideration by the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET). In recommending that schools remain open at the present time, even in the current trajectory of the disease, the NPHET has considered the national experience of school reopening to date, including the epidemiological data and information gathered through case and outbreak management.

The experience of public health to date is that transmission rates of Covid-19 in schools are low, much lower than the rate currently in the community. This is a result of the effectiveness of the public health guidelines for schools and the successful implementation and adherence of all in the school community to the guidelines.