Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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998. To ask the Minister for Health if private study centres offering supervised study time in the evenings for leaving certificate students are considered to be organised indoor gatherings under the national framework for living with COVID-19; if not, if they are included in either the retail and services or the schools and higher and adult education categories; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12103/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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As you will be aware, the public health restrictions at level 5 of the Government's Framework Resilience and Recovery 2020-2021: Plan for Living with COVID-19 will remain in place until 5th April 2021, when a further review will be conducted. The Framework continues to provide an appropriate mechanism to guide decision-making, and it will continue to be supplemented by more detailed sectoral guidance in relation to measures that apply at each level of the Framework.

On 23 February, 2021, the Government published COVID-19 Resilience & Recovery 2021: The Path Ahead which sets out how in-school education and childcare services will be reinstated in a phased manner from 1 March, with staggered return throughout March to be concluded after the Easter break on 12 April. Information on the revised plan is available here –

As I'm sure you can appreciate, COVID-19 spreads when individuals and groups come into close contact with one another, enabling the virus to move from one person to another. COVID-19 is infectious in a person with no symptoms, or for the period of time before they develop symptoms. The number of people allowed to gather in different scenarios in the Government's Framework are based on a review of international practice and the judgment of public health experts. It seeks to balance the risks of different types of gatherings against the desire to allow normal activities to proceed in so far as possible.

The Minister for Health has no responsibility for private study groups or organisations. You may wish to note that under the current public health measures, no indoor gatherings are permitted - further information is available here -

For your further assistance, the Health Act 1947 (Section 31A - Temporary Restrictions) (COVID-19) (NO. 10) Regulations 2020 Regulation (S.I. 701 of 2020), sets out the relevant businesses or services which are permitted to operate under the current public health measures. Statutory Instruments related to the Covid-19 pandemic are available here: