Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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543. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the most appropriate means for second-level students to contact her Department to communicate their experiences surrounding school building closures after students reporting comments being disabled online on social media; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1881/21]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The Government has decided to pause the limited reopening of schools scheduled for the 11th January to allow for further engagements with education partners to ensure that schools continue to operate safely. The voice of students is represented in those ongoing engagements by the Irish Second-Level Students’ Union (ISSU).

The Department of Education welcomes public engagement via its Twitter account and enables the comment function under all of its tweets. If comments were disabled for any particular Department of Education tweets, this occurred in error.

@Education_Ire is an effective ‘broadcast’ tool to share information with people who are interested in education. Unfortunately, we cannot provide replies or other feedback to our followers.

Contact should be made through our business units, available on our website - Contact Us. Students can also email the Department at: info@education.gov.ie.

More information on the Department’s Twitter policy is available below:

It is crucially important that the learning of all pupils/students, especially those with special educational needs and those at risk of educational disadvantage and/or early school leaving, are supported at this time.